The Uniqueness And Individualness Of E.E. Cummings

The Uniqueness and Individualism of E.E. Cummings

How does one make a grasshopper come to life in poetry? Well, E.E. Cummings found a way to do just this in his poem "Grasshopper." Since Cummings was a young child until his passing day he had a very eccentric personality. He used this personality in writing his poetry which allowed him to drastically stand out. In a way Cummings tried to show others, through his poems, the benefits of individualism.

Cummings was raised in a strict household which influenced him later in life. Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the year of 1894. Cumming's father was a Harvard professor and a Unitarian minister, most likely because of these professions strict values were practiced in their household. "He began writing poetry at age ten, and continued while studying at Cambridge High School" (Benson). Soon this early writing would serve him well.

E.E. Cummings arrived in a writing career with a rich variety of experiences. In 1915 he received his A.B. and in 1916 he received his A.B., both from Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard, at the beginning of World War I, Cummings joined the American volunteer Norton Harjes Ambulance Corpes in France. While in France, "Cummings received letters from a friend containing indiscrete comments" (ee cummings 1894-1962). Unfortunately, due to this, in 1917 he became trapped in a French concentration camp for reasons related to treason.

This tragic experience led Cummings to write his first book The Enormous Room.

During the era in which Cummings lived the environment around him went from horse and buggy to airplanes. When Cummings was in his twenties half of the population lived in urban areas and half lived in rural areas. Also, radio was invented for the enjoyment of people across America. Advancements in technology allowed planes to fly across nations (Applebee 760-761, 906-907). Due to all these new freedoms he was afforded the right to write as he wished.

E.E. Cummings is known for his extremes. Sturdy and vigorous was what most defined Cummings as. He always had such a zest for life and quite the infatuation for the arts. Cummings strongly detested modern conveniences such as radio and television. "Never will mankind become human...until it rises up and smashes its machines" (McMicheal 1205). These amenities were so ostracized that Cummings had no electricity in his name. Even though many things were disliked there were services he also enjoyed. "Among these were cubism and jazz because they weren't mass entertainments" (ee cummings 1894-1962). On one hand he had a passion for life yet on the other he kept modern conveniences at bay.

Along with Cummings many extremes, and the privilege of living in a free world, he wrote as he wished in a very original way. "He was an innovative poet, he violated rules of composition, he rejected punctuation and capitalization, he changed sentence structure, and he experimented with the arrangement of printed matter" (Costello 1191). He found ways to play with grammar in a tricky way. "This poetry is marked by experimental word coinages, shifting of grammar, blending of established stanzaic forms and free verse, flamboyant punning, typographic distortion, unusual punctuation..." (Hart 179). Cummings poetry has no rhythm, reason, or danceable rhythm.

Cummings poem were simple and straightforward. In many of his poems he criticized certain religions, politics, and conformity. In his poetry he had a ways of showing his dissatisfaction of people who followed society instead of being individual. "I realized it's not so much about words or lyricism...it's a poem of imagery, your brain picks out what words it can and arranges them into some sense within the jumble of symbols...and you read it more with your mind like a picture then like a traditional poem." (Looking for). Due to this outlandish way of writing Cummings attracted many people and accomplished masses.

Among Cummings many years of artistic writing he achieved many goals. One of Cummings first writing and painting occupations was at Vanity Fair. "His paintings began being viewed in 1927 but not many people became aware of them" (ee cummings