Animals (symbol)
Wild animal imagery is central to “All in green went my love riding.” Cummings mentions a horse, hounds, deer, roebuck, does, and stags, and even reveals that the speaker himself is a deer. The relationships among the beasts in this poem are symbols of human romance. The hunting animals—the hunter’s horse and hounds—represent those who have the upper hand in romantic relationships. The herbivorous prey—the various kinds of deer to which the speaker refers—symbolize those who suffer from rejection and emotionally overwhelming love affairs.
Hunting (allegory)
The hunt in this poem is an allegory for a destructive and painful love affair. The hunter is a symbol of the speaker’s beloved, and the speaker describes himself as her prey. Using this allegory, Cummings explores the violence of love, and the damaging consequences romantic failure or even romance itself may have.
Colors (motif)
Colors constitute one of the most significant motifs in “All in green went my love riding.” The color green is an emblem of the hunter/lover, who belongs to and owns the sylvan universe of this poem. The color red, on the other hand, is used to describe the deer, and evokes images of blood, sacrifice, and victimization. Other colors such as white, gold, and silver add to the regality and mysticism of the speaker’s love, and contribute to the surreal nature of the poem’s setting.
Numbers (motif)
Numbers, especially the number four, are frequently visited in the poem. The speaker mentions “four hounds,” “Four red roebuck,” “Four fleet does,” and “Four tall stags.” The lines that describe the deer are tetrasyllabic (containing four syllables; as in “the swift sweet deer”). There are four stanzas to each “section” (triplet-couplet-triplet-couplet), and so on. The number four may bear significance in relation to the animal and hunting imagery of this poem; the beasts introduced in this poem all happen to be quadrupeds.
Sounds and Songs (motif)
From the “cruel bugle,” to the repetition of the phrase “sang before,” to the “echo,” to the singing hunter, the poem frequently evokes auditory images of instruments and singing. These images not only contribute to the hunting imagery (the horn referred to in this poem is used to communicate during hunts) but also highlight the musical quality of the poem itself. Some of the greatest pleasures of “All in green went my love riding” are its phonetic devices, rhythms, and repetitions.
Sleep and Dreaming (motif)
Cummings notably compares the deer to “dreams,” “sleep,” and “death.” Sleep is treated as a variant of death—it signifies a state of paralysis, which may include both the physical paralysis of a dead deer, and the emotional paralysis of someone rejected by their loved one. Dreams are products of such paralyzed states; in fact, the poem itself is in many ways like a fever dream. By connecting sleep and dreams with death and stasis, Cummings explores how failed love may cause us to be paralyzed in sorrow or fixated with dreams and fantasies.
