EE Cummings

A detailed Summary of EE Cummings

E. E. Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many

poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual

line, word, and even letter placements - namely, ideograms. Cummings'

most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely

terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may be

sounds or characters on the page that cannot be verbalized or cannot

convey the same message if pronounced and not read. Four of Cummings'

poems - l(a, mortals), !blac, and swi( - illustrate the ideogram form

quite well. Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these poems in order to

convey messages visually as well as verbally.

Although one may think of l(a as a poem of sadness and

loneliness, Cummings probably did not intend that. This poem is about

individuality - oneness (Kid 200-1). The theme of oneness can be

derived from the numerous instances and forms of the number '1'

throughout the poem. First, 'l(a' contains both the number 1 and the

singular indefinite article, 'a'; the second line contains the French

singular definite article, 'le'; 'll' on the fifth line represents two

Finally, '(im' on the last line should bring the reader's eyes back to

simplified this poem drastically ("a leaf falls:/loneliness"), and

the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters like a

the number out; the 8th line, 'l',

Triem, Eve. E. E. Cummings. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota

enough, this poem, too, stresses the idea of individualism, or

Approximate Word count = 1497
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.