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Literary Analysis: A Take On E. Cummings As A Whole

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A Take on E.E. Cummings as a Whole While poetry seems to become more and more obsolete in the 21st Century, writers like E.E. Cummings set a precedent for unique literary works through poems. Unlike famous writers such as William Shakespeare, Cummings never found the need to follow patterns other authors used. He enjoyed the freedom of poetry and accentuated letters to form and create stories that speak to his readers. Although during his time many did not see his talent, it is writers like Cummings who now make poetry fun. Rather than rigid rules and repeating rhyme schemes, words straight from the heart and mind of Cummings flowed onto paper. His rawness today provides a fresh look a poetry and entices those who see poems as boring, mundane, …show more content…

His work led him all the way to France where he befriended William Slater Brown. Together they wrote witty letters back home and befriended French soldiers. Due to their scandalous writing and joke telling to pass along the time, the French government suspected them of treason and eventually put them into a concentration camp. Questioned and essentially held hostage, Cummings stayed there for three months until his father demanded his release. Although he was free to go home, the experience scarred him forever but prompted the subject for his first published book The Enormous Room (1922). Ironically enough, a year after his release, Cummings was drafted for the war and had to spend half a year training until he finally was able to leave in January of 1919. Once done with his army days, Cummings split his time between Paris and New York, where he visited poets and artists, and spent time with his friend’s wife, Elaine Thayer. Elaine’s husband, Schofield Thayer, co-owned P.F. Collier & Son where Cummings worked before the war and the two became friends. Schofield knew of the affair and, oddly enough, did not disapprove. In the midst of writing for the The Dial and publishing his first book and collection of poems, Cummings had his first and only daughter with Elaine. Once the Thayer couple divorced, Cummings and Elaine got married in 1924. As karma has it, the two divorced a year later when she found a new European fling. Despite their separation, Cummings became more successful, producing collections & and XLI Poems in 1925 and winning Dial magazine’s annual $2000 writer

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