e.e. cummings

Does this poem capture your attention? It is an example of a Concrete Poem, a poem that looks like what it represents (in this case, a leaf falling).

How do you read this poem? A leaf falls, loneliness? Does it have to be interpreted this way?

Consider how the poet uses visual techniques like punctuation (using parentheses for a sense of separation and enclosure); line breaks and emjambment (when one line wraps around to the next).

What do you see and feel when you look at this poem?

Is there a sense of falling? A leaf floating down into the leaf pile at the bottom of the poem?
Do you see isolation? A negative connotation from the the "l" being set alone- loneliness?
Do you see singularity of self? "Iness?" A more positive feeling?
Is it loneliness, or oneliness? If the latter, what does oneliness mean? cummings loves to invent new words!

This is an amazing poem from e.e. cummings, one of the most avant-garde and free-spirited poets in the English language. cummings was incredibly experimental, especially for his time of writing during the early 20th century.

This excerpt from a biography of cummings at poetryfoundation.org summarizes his style: "cummings experimented with poetic form and language to create a distinct personal style. A cummings poem is spare and precise, employing a few key words eccentrically placed on the page. Some of these words were invented by cummings, often by combining two common words into a new synthesis. He also revised grammatical and linguistic rules to suit his own purposes, using such words as "if," "am," and "because" as nouns, for example, or assigning his own private meanings to words. Despite their nontraditional form, cummings' poems came to be popular with many readers. "No one else," Randall Jarrell claimed in his The Third Book of Criticism, "has ever made avant-garde, experimental poems so attractive to the general and the special reader." By the time of his death in 1962 cummings held a prominent position in twentieth-century poetry."
                                                                    

(You may have noticed that e.e. cummings' name is not capitalized. He did this on purpose to reflect his style.)

Below is e.e. cummings' signature poem, "in Just," another poem that heralds the arrival of Spring. I performed this in my theatre group in high school so it's a sentimental favorite of mine. I love the phrases "when the world is mud luscious" and "the world is puddle-wonderful." cummings is like Shakespeare- he makes up his own words! Enjoy! This one needs to be read aloud....

[in Just-] By E. E. Cummings 1894–1962       

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee