E. E. Cummings

October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962

Edward Estlin Cummings was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright.

Despite Cummings's familiarity with avant-garde styles, much of his work is quite traditional. Many of his poems are sonnets, albeit often with a modern twist. He occasionally used the blues form and acrostics.

Many of his most striking poems do not involve any typographical or punctuation innovations at all, but purely syntactic ones.

Themes

Love and Nature | Individual versus the Masses | Individual Versus the World | Satire

Featured Work

1.

from "anyone lived in a pretty how town"

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

2.

from "spring omnipotent goddess Thou"

spring omnipotent goddess Thou
dost stuff parks
with overgrown pimply
chevaliers and gumchewing giggly

damosels Thou dost
persuade to serenade
his lady the musical tom-cat
Thou dost inveigle

into crossing sidewalks the
unwary june-bug and the frivolous
angleworm
Thou dost hang canary birds in parlour windows

~

Which your favourite Cummings poem?