Education Of Ee Cummings Essay, Research Paper

Education of ee cummings

Outline

I.Introduction

A.Cummings’ life

B.Introduction to Cummings’ ideogram form

C.5 Poems being analyzed

D.Thesis Statement: Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these

poems in order to convey messages visually as well as verbally.

II.Poem analyses

A.l(a

1.Theme – not sadness or loneliness, but oneness

2.Syntax

a.instances of ?1′ in the poem

b.shape of a poem representing leaf falling

3.Images – one and oneness

B.mortals)

1.Theme

a.?eachness’

b.?climbi’ and ?begi’

2.Syntax

a.”open ing”

b.”of speeds of”

c.”&meet&”

d.”a/n/d”

e.”(im” ? “mortals)”

3.Images – circularity of poem

C.!blac

1.Theme

a.?!’ and its results

b.Cummings’ comment

c.?.g’ at end

2.Syntax

a.less free verse than one may first think

1.four and one line altering stanzas

2.lone consonants forming a sort of rhyme themselves

3.trees & agains; (whi) & sky; te, rees, & le

b.falling of a leaf

1.the whole poem’s syntax

2.line and word spacing

3.IrlI

3.Images

a.comma after sky and trees

b.black against white

D.swi(

1.Theme ? differentiate b/w perception and conception

2.Syntax

a.swi(

b.terseness, primary lang., and unclear syntactical

relationships

c.motion ? Less

d.d,

3.Images ? against ? across ? swift ? swimming

III.Conclusion

A.Cummings’ method

B.Comment on the ideogram

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

!blac

k

agains

t

(whi)

te sky

?t

rees whic

h fr

om droppe

d

,

le

af

a:;go

e

s wh

IrlI

n

.g

mortals)

climbi

ng i

nto eachness begi

n

dizzily

swingthings

of speeds of

trapeze gush somersaults

open ing

hes shes

&meet&

swoop

fully is are ex

quisite

theys

of

re

turn

a

n

d

fall which now drop who all dreamlike

(im

swi(

across!gold’s

rouNdly

)ftblac

kl(ness)y

a-motion-upo-nmotio-n

Less?

thE

(against

is

)Swi

mming

(w-a)s

bIr

d,

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 maybe 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 ones; ?one’ on the 7th line spells the number out;

the 8th line, ?l’, isolates the number; and ?iness’, the last line, can mean

“the state of being I” ? that is, individuality ? or “oneness”, deriving the

“one” from the lowercase roman numeral ?i’ (200). Cummings could have simplified

this poem drastically (”a leaf falls:/loneliness”), and still conveyed the same

verbal message, but he has altered the normal syntax in order that each line

should show a ?one’ and highlight the theme of oneness. In fact, the whole poem

is shaped like a ?1′ (200). The shape of the poem can also be seen as the path

of a falling leaf; the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters

like a falling leaf gliding, back and forth, down to the ground. The beginning ?

l(a’ changes to ?le’, and ?af’ flips to ?fa’. ?ll’ indicates a quick drop of the

leaf, which has slowed by a longer line, ?one’. Finally, the leaf falls into the

pile of fallen leaves on the ground, represented by ?iness’. Cummings has

written this poem so perfectly that every part of it conveys the message of

oneness and individuality (200).

In mortals), Cummings vitalizes a trapeze act on paper. Oddly enough, this poem,

too, stresses the idea of individualism, or ?eachness’, as it is stated on line

four. Lines 2 and 4, ?climbi’ and ?begi’, both end leaving the letter ?i’

exposed. This is a sign that Cummings is trying to emphasize the concept of

self-importance (Tri 36). This poem is an amusing one, as it shows the effects

of a trapeze act within the arrangement of the words. On line 10, the space in

the word ?open ing’ indicates the act beginning, and the empty, static moment

before it has fully begun. ?of speeds of’ and ?&meet&’, lines 8 and 12

respectively, show a sort of back-and-forth motion, much like that of the motion

of a trapeze swinging. Lines 12 through 15 show the final jump off the trapeze,

and ?a/n/d’ on lines 17 through 19, represent the deserted trapeze, after the

acrobats have dismounted. Finally, ?(im’ on the last line should bring the

reader’s eyes back to the top of the poem, where he finds ?mortals)’. Placing ?

(im’ at the end of the poem shows that the performers attain a special type of

immortality for risking their lives to create a show of beauty, they attain a

special type of immortality (36-7). The circularity of the poem causes a feeling

of wholeness or completeness, and may represent the Circle of Life, eternal

motion (Fri 26).

Cummings first tightly written ideogram was !blac, a very interesting poem. It

starts with ?!’, which seems to be saying that something deserving that

exclamation point occurred anterior to the poem, and the poem is trying

objectively to describe certain feelings resulting from ?!’. “black against

white” is an example of such a description in the poem; the clashing colors

create a feeling in sync with ?!’. Also, why “(whi)” suggests amusement and

wonder, another feeling resulting from ?!’ (Weg 145). Cummings had written a

letter concerning !blac to Robert Wenger, author of The Poetry and Prose of E. E.

Cummings (see Works Cited). In it, he wrote, “for me, this poem means just what

it says . . . and the ! which begins the poem is what might be called and

emphatic (=very).” This poem is also concerns the cycle of birth, life, death,

and renewal. This is derived from the ?.’ preceding the last letter. This shows

that even though the poem is finished, the circle of life is not, and is ever

cycling (Weg 144). Through the poem’s shape, !blac also shows a leaf fluttering

to the ground. The lines’ spacing synchronizes the speed of the reading with

that of the leaf at different points in its fall. With its capital ?I’s, ?IrlI’

also indicates a leaf falling straight down before it hits the ground (147).

Reading this poem, one may realize the lone comma on line 12. The poet writes

about the sky and a tree, and then a comma intrudes, which makes the reader

pause, and realize the new awareness that the comma indicated ? that of a

falling leaf (145). Lines 1 through 6 are also very important to the poem.

Although “black against white” may be referring to the color of the falling leaf

in contrast to the bright sky, it is not wrong to assume it means more. As

stated above, the poem’s theme is the cycle of life, and “black against white”

could be indicating life death versus life. It shows that even though a leaf

falling may be an indication of death, falling of leaves is an integral part of

the whole life cycle of the tree (146). !blac may seem like a simple mess of

words, but in reality is much more complex than that.

swi( is another poem of Cummings’ ideogram form. The essence of this poem is

seeing a bird’s swift flight past the sun, and the wonder of this experience.

The poem mainly tries to convince the reader of the difference between

conception, what one sees, and perception, what one knows he is seeing (Mar 105).

The first line, ?swi(’ shows that the object the poet sees is moving so rapdly

that before he completely utters his first word, he must describe the object,

and that it is passing before another object ? the sun. His use of only primary

descriptives, such as speed, direction, color, and shape indicates that he is

trying to describe the bird as quickly as possible. The way he speaks, in terse

syllables that lack syntactical relationship to each other, imitate one who

tries to speak before he knows exactly what he wants to say; it is another

indication of how quickly the object is moving (106). “a-motion-upo-nmotio-

n/Less?”, the 6th line, is signifying that although the poet knows that both the

objects are moving, one’s motion causes the other to seem still (106). The ?d,’

at the end of the poem is showing that after the poet has finally named the

object he saw, he immediately loses interest and stops, as writing more to

further organize his thoughts would be superfluous (106). The contrasting words

in this poem are very important. ?against’ contrasts with ?across’, and

signifies a halt. It seems that the poet wants to stop the object in order to

describe it. But a stopping of motion would contradict ?swi/ftly’, so Cummings

decided to refer to the speed average of the two, ?Swi/mming’ (106). swi(

contains less symbolism than the other poems being analyzed, but it is similar

in that the syntax adds greatly to the poem.

Cummings’ peculiar method of using syntax to convey hidden meaning is extremely

effective. The reader does not simply read and forget Cummings’ ideas; instead,

he must figure out the hidden meaning himself. In doing this, he feels

contentment, and thus retains the poem’s idea for a more extended period of time.

Cummings’ ideogram poems are puzzles waiting to be solved.

Works Cited

Friedman, Norman. E. E. Cummings: A Collection of Critical Essays.

New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Kidder, Rushworth M. E. E. Cummings: An Introduction to the

Poetry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.

Marks, Barry A. E. E. Cummings. New York: Twayne Publishers,

Inc., 1964.

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

Press, 1969.

Wegner, Robert E. The Poetry and Prose of E. E. Cummings. New

York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc