Ee Cummings Research Paper

Poets’ work shape their careers and are almost always influenced by their backgrounds or experiences that changed their lives. During high school, E.E. Cummings was educated in what was thought to be “the last generation to be educated in precisely this manner” (Docherty) of a “sound classical education” that resulted in him adopting many poetic strategies. E.E. Cummings then attended Harvard University where he was introduce to the avant-garde writers of Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. These two writers influenced Cummings in such a huge way that Cummings himself became an avant-garde writer too by experimenting with different techniques and grammar in his poetry. In his two poems “Spring is like a perhaps hand” and “maggie and milly and molly and may”, he experiments with very unique grammar and formatting. He uses this odd technique to get the reader’s attention so that they read deeper and understand the meaning. His life also relates to these poems because of his birthplace in Cambridge, Massachusetts and he writes about the New England seasons. E.E. Cummings’ use of unique grammar and avant-garde writing is largely from his rare and influential learning opportunity that helped shape his poetic career in writing about his birthplace and other topics. E.E. Cummings’ early interest in poetry and his connections with people such as philosophers influenced his work as a poet. Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Poetry Foundation). He decided to become a poet as a child and “wrote a poem a day” from the age of 8 until he was 22. Walsh 2 "E. E. Cummings grew up in the company of such family friends as the philosophers William James and Josiah Royce" (Biography in Context). These early influences had a big impact on Cummings’ life because he was surrounded by smart and intelligent people. Cummings’ goal of becoming a poet as a child helped him in the future as he was already familiar with the subject and he was motivated to do what he loved. Cummings went to Harvard University where he received both his Bachelor’s and Master's degree (Poets.org). During his time at Harvard, he was introduced to “avant-garde” writers, Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound. This exposure to these talented writers also helped him progress in his career of poetry. "He began to write avant-garde poems in which conventional punctuation and syntax were ignored in favor of a dynamic use of language." (Poetry Foundation). Cummings was deeply influenced by Stein and Pound and adopted their different style of poetry during college. Another influence on Cummings’ career was his expierience of being imprisoned during WWI in France. "Cummings became an ambulance driver in France just before America entered World War I. He was imprisoned for 3 months on suspicion of holding views critical of the French war effort[...]” (Biography in Context). This experience gave way for his first book called The Enormous Room in 1922 which was the start of his career. Cummings used “poetic techniques of symbolism” and blended it with “autobiographical prose reporting”. Cummings and his poems became popular and loved because they were full of “sentimentally”, “improper jokes”, and “elementary lyric insistence” (Poets.org). Cummings’ poems were also unique in his poetic language. He “unabashedly” wrote Walsh 3 about “traditional and somewhat passe” themes like love, childhood, and flowers (Poetry Foundation). “‘No one else,’ Randall Jarrell claimed in his The Third Book of Criticism, ‘has ever made avant-garde, experimental poems so attractive to the general and the special reader.’ By the time of his death in 1962 Cummings held a prominent position in 20th-century poetry.” Cummings was well …show more content…
Cummings starts the poem with, "maggie and milly and molly and may" (Cummings 1). Cummings uses an alliteration by using the letter “m” repeatedly to make the poem sound like song lyrics. These catchy lines engross the reader and make them understand why it must be important that there is repetition. This way the reader will read the rest of the poem with their best attentiveness. Cummings made musical rhythms just as important as the poem's visual appearance (Kirsch). Cummings engages the reader by including a metaphor and rhyme. "may came home with