E. E. Cummings“I am someone who proudly and humbly affirms that love is the mystery-

of-mysteries…that an artist, a man, a failure is…a naturally and miraculously whole human being…whose only happiness is to transcend

himself, whose every agony is to grow.”

Eileen Doyle-Samay and Lisa Bond

Biography

• Born in Cambridge, MA on October 14th, 1894• Father was a Harvard professor, then a

Unitarian minister• Mother introduced him to writing• Founded Harvard Poetry Society• Through a printers error his signature

developed

More biography

• Died September 3, 1962• was the second most widely read poet in the

United States, after Robert Frost• Father died in 1926

Criticisms of the Critics• Disliked greatly in his time period• Called hard to read and understand• Accepted by his peers• settling into his signature style and not pressing his work

towards further evolution• great popularity among young readers, (Because of talk of war

and sex) and writing simplicity

Literary Devices

• Symbolism• Powerful Imagery• Similes • Repetition • Oxymoronic juxtaposition

Poetic Structure

• Disjointed structure• Punctuation

Works Cited • Work Cited• Cummings, E. E. Complete Poems 1913-1962. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972. Print.• Reef, Catherine. E. E. Cummings: A Poet's Life. New York: Clarion, 2006. Print.• Gunton, Sharon R. Contemporary Literary Criticisms. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Print.• ee cummings reads "Somewhere I have never travelled..." Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• - -. "E. E. Cummings." Enotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.• Modern American Poetry. "Paintings by E. E. Cummings." Modern American Poetry. N.p., n.d.

Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• Thurman, Caryn. "E. E. Cummings." Literary Kicks. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• American Writers Vol. I. N.p.: University of Minnesota, 1974. Print.• - -. "E. E. Cummings." Internal.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• "E. E. Cummings." Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• Bucken. "Grasshopper Info." Titans. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.• Ruspoli, Tao. E.E. Cummings Poem LVI. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.•