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Edward Estlin Cummings Essay example

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Edward Estlin Cummings was an American poet – the second most widely read poet in the United States, after Robert Frost – born in 1894. He was immensely popular, especially among younger readers for his work; he experimented radically with form, punctuation, spelling and syntax. The majority of his poems turn to the subjects of love, war, and sex, with such simplistic language, abandoning traditional techniques to create new means of poetic expression.

“Somewhere I have never travelled”, is a very highly acclaimed poem. The narrator speaks of his lover, and the power, which attaches him to her. The title, “Somewhere I have never travelled”, is significant to the romantic theme of the poem. It is quite a complicated concept, and at first …show more content…

“Death and forever” describes the speaker’s feelings, like a sudden plunge in his heart because his love is so deep, aching and yet so full of hope and wonder.

E.E. Cummings use of language is quite ambigious as this is only one of many possible interpretations. His use of diction expresses the love in so gentle a way, yet with such powerful and passionate meaning, effectively captivating the reader; it combines vivid images with intense use of language. The entire poem is a metaphor; the narrator is comparing his lover’s qualities, to that of a rose, though it never directly mentions the word “love”, the essence of love is worded beautifully.

There is constant imagery of nature; the flowers closing and opening, the seasons and elements and references to the sense of touch, “you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens”. This reminds us of the closeness of the lovers and emphasizes the spontaneity of the lovers, their preference for intuition or feeling over thought. There is also repetitive use of the words “close” and “open”, E.E. Cummings is expressing the power of a woman over the man who loves her. She can open him as spring opens a rose, or close him as snow closes a flower; again, the use of language conjure images of nature, suggesting the vitality of their love. The subject of the poem is

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