E. E. Cummings AKA e e cummings
Background
E. E. Cummings was actually born Edward Estlin Cummings to Edward Cummings and Rebecca Clarke. Both of his parents and their Unitarian views shaped his early life, however it was his mother that had the most impact on young Edward. When he was a little child, Rebecca would read poems and literature to him, often reminding him that the most important part of reading was feeling an emotion from the story. After high school, he continued his love of reading and poetry by going to Harvard to study literature. After graduating from Harvard, he traveled to Europe to aid in the fight in WWI. However, he was notoriously anti-war, and repeatedly spoke out against the war efforts. These opinions would land him in trouble as he was sent to prison in France for espionage. While in prison for espionage, Cummings learned much about humanity. The ordeal influenced him so much that he would go on to write a book, The Enormous Room, about his experience. He then came back to the United States and started to create many of his poems. He also met his first wife and mother of his only child, Elaine Orr. However, they divorced only 9 months after their marriage. After going through that process again, Cummings finally found Marion Morehouse, and although they were never officially married, she lived with Cummings for 30 years until his death.Influences
Cummings' first job was as an apprentice to a book seller. At that job he got to experience all of the different variations on the English language. It was at this job that he was first exposed to the foregoing of the traditional syntax of English. This idea of foregoing the syntax is something that we see in all of Cummings' writings. His next major influence occurred when he was captured as a POW in France. He later writes his most popular book, The Enormous Room, based around the time in the POW camp. Another influence on his life and in turn his poems was his trip to the Soviet Union. Cummings entered the Union without any real government opinions, and left shifted to the right. For the rest of his life, he was a Republican, and this support shows in his writings. Finally, the last major influence on his writings is the car accident that killed his father and left his mother in critical condition. After the accident, Cummings began to write more about what he believed were the key ideas of living. This style of writing pervaded his poems until he passed away.
Notable Works/Writing Style
Some of E. E. Cummings' most famous works are not even poems at all. He was a talented playwright as well as a painter. He painted many portraits, still lifes, and abstracts, some of which are professionally acclaimed. His plays include Santa Claus: A Morality, which is now his most successful play. However, it is true that his most famous works are his writings. He wrote over 2,900 poems in his life, and because of that staggering volume, he has multiple anthologies. He writes with blatent disregard for syntax and grammar, often choosing instead to order his words to form a shape or pattern. Just because he ignored syntax for his poems does not mean that he did not have a mastery over it, however. In his autobiography about his life and the war, The Enormous Room, he clearly displays that he knows the syntax. Perhaps this makes his writing style even more unique and creative, because he had to knowingly create a new vernacular.What Cummings Left Behind
Love is more thicker than forget
Love is more thicker than forget
more thinner than recall
more seldom than a wave is wet
more frequent than to fail
It's most mad and moonly
and less it shall unbe
than all the sea which only
is deeper than the sea
Love is more always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less litter than forgive
It's most sane and sunly
and more it cannot die
than all the sky which only
is higher than the sky
Audio of poem can be found at:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audioitem/2248Works Cited
"E.E. Cummings." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.Cummings, Edward.
'Edward Estlin Cummings - Edward Estlin Cummings Biography - Poem Hunter'. Poemhunter.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
Terblanche, Etienne (July 25, 2012). "E. E. Cummings: Poet And Painter". New York: Rodopi. pp. 141–186. ISBN 9042035412.
Poetryfoundation.org,. '[Love Is More Thicker Than Forget] / Poem Of The Day : The Poetry Foundation'. N.p., 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Harvardmagazine.com,. 'The Rebellion Of E.E. Cummings | Harvard Magazine Mar-Apr 2005'. N.p., 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
