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E. E. Cummings biography :
Considered one of the
greatest American poets, e. e. cummings was born in 1894 in Cambridge,
Massachussets. His first literary success, The Enormous Room (1922)
was based on his experience as a volunteer for the Norton-Harjes
Ambulance group, where he was wrongly detained in a detention camp for
three months. This was followed by his first collection of poetry,
Tulips and Chimneys (1923). The two books made him a celebrity in the
literary world, who recognized his genius at playing with language to
capture the “chaotic immediacy of sensuous experience” through the
play of words, and in such a lyrical and spontaneous manner. He used
this skill to write some of the best love poems of the 20th century.
Cummings was a contributing writer to many magazines and newspapers,
including Vanity Fair. The assignments allowed him to travel, and
capture the landscapes he had seen in art works in charcoal, ink, oil,
pencil, and watercolour. Some of his illustrations and paintings were
exhibited in various individual shows in New York.
Cummings had several rocky relationships, until he enjoyed a long and
happy third marriage to photographer Marion Morehouse. They settled in
New York, occasionally visiting the family farm in New Hampshire.
While he continued to write—releasing collections like VV (1931) and
No Thanks (1935), Xaipe (1950), and 95 Poems (1958)—they were not as
well received as his first volumes.
Cummings died in 1962. He is remembered not only for his skill at
imagery but his creative defiance of traditional rhyme, meter, and
rules of language (including the refusal to capitalize the letters of
his name, i.e., e. e. cummings).
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Books of poetry by
E. E. Cummings :
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Selected Poems
Book
Description
This review is from a strictly prose guy, as poetry
usually goes right over my head. In my efforts to
understand poetry, I have discovered that the work
of e.e. cummings breaks through the stylistic
barriers that make many people shy away from poetry
altogether. cummings' use of bizarre spacing,
punctuation, and phrasings keeps the reader away
from the "sing-song" routine that tends to damage
the credibility of many a poem, and cummings uses
the art of style to say many things and make many
points in just a few words. The most fascinating
aspect of cummings' work is letting the small number
of words in a poem really sink in until you gain
many insights. This book usefully arranges cummings'
most noteworthy poems into categories so you can
more easily dwell on his major areas of subject
matter. cummings did not live the hard life of many
noteworthy poets, so a good number of his poems are
musings on abstract concepts like life, love,
mythology, and mortality. However, his much sharper
observations on war, prostitution, politics, and the
dark side of urban life can be truly shocking once
you delve into their deeper meanings. Contemplating
the title of this review, which is also the first
line of the poem on page 181 of this book, will help
any poetry-fearing reader to dive into cummings'
world.
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Poem
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