Sarah ([info]mermaiden) wrote in [info]literarytattoos,
2009-07-07 10:00:00
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It's Always Ourselves We Find in the Sea

I'm an ocean girl, through and through, and since yesterday was my birthday, I thought it'd be nice to get a birthday tattoo~ :) There are so many ocean poems that I love, but one of my favorites is by e.e cummings:


maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea

e.e. cummings


So, I got the last line tattooed around a starfish. The starfish symbolizes the fact that I follow my own star, and that I find myself by its light from the sea. :)

Done by the amazing tattooing goddess Cat of Strange Brew Tattoos~ <3





Tags: ankle tattoo, cummings, e.e cummings

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[info]peregrin8

July 7 2009, 14:09:37 UTC 2 years ago

LOVE it. Fabulous quote (and thanks for including the poem in your post! The line you chose is wonderfully resonant) and I love the placement and how the quote swirls around the starfish.

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:15:40 UTC 2 years ago

Aww, thank you so much~!! :)

[info]lnzucke

2 years ago

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[info]_pinkandblack_

July 7 2009, 14:10:52 UTC 2 years ago

I love this! It's just so great all around

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:15:52 UTC 2 years ago

Hee~ Thank you!! :)

[info]bloemche

July 7 2009, 14:14:13 UTC 2 years ago

Love it!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:16:03 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you~! :)

[info]the_soul_of_wit

July 7 2009, 14:17:29 UTC 2 years ago

Wow, that is just gorgeous! Also REALLY nice to see someone with an E.E. cummings tattoo that isn't from "i carry your heart" ;-)

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:19:12 UTC 2 years ago

Aww, thank you so much! And yes...he had an amazing body of work...there's so many good poems and truths and just jaw-dropping lines and passions from his stuff...I wonder if he knew that that one poem in particular would become the one that most people knew and loved? :)

[info]liquidmistletoe

July 7 2009, 14:21:51 UTC 2 years ago

I love it! To echo someone above, thank you for including the poem with the post :)

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:23:11 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! And you're welcome~ :)

[info]mys_ebrel

July 7 2009, 14:25:24 UTC 2 years ago

fantastic! I'm an ocean girl too!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:31:25 UTC 2 years ago

Hee, thank you~! :)

[info]appleautumn

July 7 2009, 14:25:37 UTC 2 years ago

Your tattoo is beautiful! I absolutely love the placement and the layout of the text.

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:31:36 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~!!

[info]landfill_sky

July 7 2009, 14:27:35 UTC 2 years ago

Oh bloody hell that's amazing! Maggie & Milly & Molly & May is my favourite e.e. cummings poem of all time, I've been considering having a small tattoo of it myself
This is beautiful and the placement is amazing.

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:31:51 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so very much~!! :) I appreciate it~

[info]abiotique

July 7 2009, 14:27:43 UTC 2 years ago

great design! love it!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 14:32:05 UTC 2 years ago

Hee, thank you~! :)

[info]zagzagael

July 7 2009, 14:52:32 UTC 2 years ago

Lovely!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:02:40 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! :)

[info]ladybuggington

July 7 2009, 14:57:16 UTC 2 years ago

That's really beautiful!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:02:49 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you~!! :)

[info]theanniemal

July 7 2009, 15:15:08 UTC 2 years ago

amazing! really inspires me to finally get my own tatto tribute to the sea... would you mind sharing other poems about the sea you like? i haven't find any a part from this cummings (but than i'm not a hardcore poetry girl) tata ♥

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:29:37 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! :)

And here are a few of my favorites (which I'll probably get lines from someday~):

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

~John Masefield

~*~


Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean – roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin – his control
Stops with the shore; -- upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, not does remain
A shadow of man’s ravage, save his own,
When for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknell’d, uncoffin’d, and unknown.

~Byron

~*~


I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.

~Emily Dickinson

~*~


Here I came to the very edge
where nothing at all needs saying,
everything is absorbed through weather and the sea,
and the moon swam back,
its rays all silvered,
and time and again the darkness would be broken
by the crash of a wave,
and every day on the balcony of the sea,
wings open, fire is born,
and everything is blue again like morning.

~ Pablo Neruda

And this one which is a wee bit too long to copy and paste. :) Hope this helps!

[info]katrinaswift

July 7 2009, 15:17:09 UTC 2 years ago

That's just gorgeous! I love that poem!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:24:18 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! And yes...it's utterly beautiful. :)

[info]katrinaswift

2 years ago

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[info]clair_de_lune92

July 7 2009, 15:19:47 UTC 2 years ago

I love it!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:24:03 UTC 2 years ago

Hee~ Thank you~!! :)

[info]brenda_k_a

July 7 2009, 15:27:28 UTC 2 years ago

Love everything about this tattoo!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:30:11 UTC 2 years ago

Oh, thank you so much!! :)

[info]lila_werewolf

July 7 2009, 15:49:43 UTC 2 years ago

oh my that is stunning!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 15:50:41 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~!! :)

[info]misstherestofme

July 7 2009, 16:55:17 UTC 2 years ago

Aw! I love this poem! Great tattoo!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:33:29 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! :)

[info]hebrokeaway

July 7 2009, 17:37:04 UTC 2 years ago

Delightful! Thank you for sharing!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:33:37 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! :)

[info]thischarmingmai

July 7 2009, 17:56:33 UTC 2 years ago

gorgeous!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:33:58 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you very much~! :)

[info]thinnerotic

July 7 2009, 17:58:52 UTC 2 years ago

Beautiful!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:34:09 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you~! :)

[info]ktin520

July 7 2009, 18:07:42 UTC 2 years ago

I was just thinking of this poem, and your tattoo popped up. It's absolutely gorgeous!

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:34:21 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~! It's a beautiful poem~ :)

Deleted comment

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:34:36 UTC 2 years ago

Aww, thank you so much~! :)

[info]violetsteel

July 7 2009, 18:38:26 UTC 2 years ago

I love everything about this. :) Congrats.

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:34:47 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~!!! :)

[info]kittehkat

July 7 2009, 19:03:55 UTC 2 years ago

Absolutely gorgeous. Wow.

[info]mermaiden

July 7 2009, 19:34:59 UTC 2 years ago

Thank you so much~!!! :)

[info]arrivee

July 7 2009, 19:59:12 UTC 2 years ago

e.e. cummings. i approve.
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