in Just by e.e. cummings

In Just is a poem by e.e. Cummings that contains a variety of unique diction as well as unique structure that give the poem a very abstract meaning. When I first read the poem, the poem simply seemed to be about young girls and boys running to get balloons from a balloon man, but after much class discussion and rereading I found it to have a lot of hidden meanings in it that may be overlooked at first sight. After much analysis and some research I have come to the conclusion that e.e. Cummings has written this poem about the loss of innocence of children and their unavoidable move towards sexuality. The poem begins with the line “in Just-/spring” which sets the poem in the season of spring which may symbolize youth and rebirth, but when looking connotations of the word “just” an alternate meaning can be drawn. One that infers this spring is in just or may be full of wrong doings. So in spring the balloonMan whistles far and wee and children comes running, but each time the balloonMan whistles the structure of far and wee changes very slightly. The first time he whistles “far” and “wee” are much closer to each other than the last time he whistles. This could mean that the influence of his whistle or the balloonMan grows each time he whistles. I also found it interesting that the boys come running first when “far and wee” are still close together implying that males may give in to the temptations and influence of the balloon man before females do. Towards the end of the poem we also discover that the balloonMan is “goat footed” which could represent the devil and that he is drawing them into a life of sin and causing the boys and girls to lose their innocence, or the goat feet could be an allusion to Pan who dealt a lot with sexuality. Either way the structure of “far and wee” show that boys lose their innocence and move towards sexuality earlier than girls do. It is also very interesting to analyze the names that e.e. Cummings uses for the girls and boys. He uses “eddieandbill” for the boys and “bettyandisbel” for the girls. It is obvious that the grouping of names creates rhymes but you may also notice that if the girl and boy names were mixed it would make alliteration and still keep the same rhyme scheme. For example; eddieandisbel and bettyandbill. This shows that the girls fit better with boys and implies that maybe once they meet up following the balloonMan they will begin to have sexual relations, once again losing their innocence. I also find it significant that the third time that the balloonMan whistles the poem ends and no one comes running. This could imply that maybe everyone loses their innocence and eventually there will be no innocent people to whistle for, or it could leave it open to see who the reader believes will come running.