Term Paper on E. E. Cummings
In the twentieth century there were many great poets. Among these was a man by the name of E. E. Cummings. He was born in 1894 and one of many poets that contributed to a change in tradition and society through his writings. A great example of this change can be seen in a poem by Cummings, titled !blac.
This poem was written, like many, in a style called an ideogram. Ideograms can be defined with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements. In !blac Cummings conveys unique syntax, visually as well as verbally. To show the intensity used by punctuation Cummings starts the poem with ‘!’ an exclamation mark. A letter was written from Cummings to his book author Robert Wenger stating, “for me, this poem means just what it says . . . and the ‘!’ which begins the poem is what might be called emphatic.”
Another punctuation expression used is derived from the ‘.’ preceding the last letter. This shows cycle of birth, life, death, and renewal in the poem, and also depicts that even though the poem is finished, the circle of life is not, and is ever cycling.
Next we can look at the visual styles used in the poem. The most interesting part of the poem is the shape or layout. How Cummings breaks apart the words and might throw a letter of a world all by its self on a new line, is brilliant and rare. Through the poem’s shape, !blac, shows a leaf fluttering to the ground. With the capital ‘I’s, ‘IrlI’ also indicates a leaf falling straight down before hitting the ground. If you notice at one point about half way through the poem there is a lone comma. Cummings is writing about a tree, the sky, and then the comma is put there by its self. This makes the reader pause, and realize that this is representing - that of a falling leaf.
These were just a few of the ways that Cummings brought change to traditional poetry in his works. The characteristics of Cummings, personal references, way of language usage, images and descriptions of nature, and shapes mix to show the wide variety of perspectives that inform his nature poetry. While much of the Western civilization was focused on war-heroism and different aspects of society, Cummings turned to nature as did the Romantics in the nineteenth century.
This poem was written, like many, in a style called an ideogram. Ideograms can be defined with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements. In !blac Cummings conveys unique syntax, visually as well as verbally. To show the intensity used by punctuation Cummings starts the poem with ‘!’ an exclamation mark. A letter was written from Cummings to his book author Robert Wenger stating, “for me, this poem means just what it says . . . and the ‘!’ which begins the poem is what might be called emphatic.”
Another punctuation expression used is derived from the ‘.’ preceding the last letter. This shows cycle of birth, life, death, and renewal in the poem, and also depicts that even though the poem is finished, the circle of life is not, and is ever cycling.
Next we can look at the visual styles used in the poem. The most interesting part of the poem is the shape or layout. How Cummings breaks apart the words and might throw a letter of a world all by its self on a new line, is brilliant and rare. Through the poem’s shape, !blac, shows a leaf fluttering to the ground. With the capital ‘I’s, ‘IrlI’ also indicates a leaf falling straight down before hitting the ground. If you notice at one point about half way through the poem there is a lone comma. Cummings is writing about a tree, the sky, and then the comma is put there by its self. This makes the reader pause, and realize that this is representing - that of a falling leaf.
These were just a few of the ways that Cummings brought change to traditional poetry in his works. The characteristics of Cummings, personal references, way of language usage, images and descriptions of nature, and shapes mix to show the wide variety of perspectives that inform his nature poetry. While much of the Western civilization was focused on war-heroism and different aspects of society, Cummings turned to nature as did the Romantics in the nineteenth century.
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