Essay about The Role of Humanism in the Poems of E.E. Cummings

The aim of this essay is to present the different ways E.E. Cummings and Pablo Neruda in their poems “It May Not Always Be So” and “Always” respectively deal with the issue of love affairs. It will also seek to examine the similarities and differences in the poetic devices they use, and in the way the idea of prospective change, namely the possibility of unfaithfulness in the first, and the past of the speaker’s lover in the second poem is encountered by each speaker. The two poets have their speakers to express their feelings addressing the women they love in order to emphasize the theme of the poems, which they perceive in two utterly different ways: cummings’s speaker views the end of his

The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of

Her writing style has double meaning to it. The serious tone hides between the lines of humor. Now that we have established a foundation for our argument let’s move on to analyzing Cope’s poem by looking at what is happening within it.

EE Cummings was and is still one of the most well-regarded and unique poets of all time. His poems were unusual, but his strange way of writing is what grabbed people’s attention and made him so special. Many incidents in Cummings’ life affected his poetry, his experiences and his personality, which could clearly be observed in the poems he wrote. Cummings became such a well-known poet due to the effect of his life events on his poetry, his peculiar writing style and his strong connection with the topics of love and lust. The struggles and successes of his life developed his poetry in a huge manner.

Weigl has dug deep into his recollection of the war to produce work that can be thought of as artistically beautiful. It’s his aim to find the means, despite everything he’s endured, to transcend misery in his poetry. This is done on purpose and allows Weigl to employ a style in his poetry that’s dependent on the sound of words, to express an image so openly that the verses depict a genuine emotion that doesn’t pose as an insult to readers. Underneath the rubble of his misfortune there is a level of integrity on display that readers can appreciate. Weigl likes to view the world objectively and so does his poetry in a very responsible and accountable manner.

The humor and seemingly-comedic personification used in the poem are very different than the theme, and serve as a distraction from the speaker’s pain.

He defends nature and in the quote “pity poor flesh/ and trees, poor stars and stones” (cummings, lines 10-11) stating that the nature is the real victim, and instead of pitying “this busy monster.” He continues the quotation in the fifth stanza with a sarcastic tone, stating that the self-value mankind has put on themselves puts them amongst God-like beings “but never this/ fine specimen of hypermagical/ ultraomnipotence.” (cummings, lines 11-13). The author invents the words hypermagical and ultraomnipotence; hypermagical can be broken down into the words “hyper” and “magical” which is interpreted as that mankind believes that they are beyond their ordinary selves, and the word ultraomnipotence can interpreted through breaking down the prefix “ultra” and suffix “potence” to meaning extreme power. The significance of adding these made-up words is a form of satire, e.e cummings is using this words to mock humanity for their vanity and

While reading the poems “Richard Cory” and “Ezra Farmer”, it is almost immediately evident which poem is an original and which is a parody. Both poems are clearly about men that are popular among those he meets, but once the reader looks beneath the surface, they notice how the diction plays an important role in relaying the theme to the audience it is presented to. In the poem “Richard Cory” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the theme being portrayed is that people are not always as how they seem.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

Cummings” pg.13). Cummings continued to publish volumes of poetry at a rate of approximately one every four or five years (“E.E. Cummings pg.14). The last honor involved giving a series of public talks; published as i: six Nonlecture (1953), they provide a succinct and charming summation of his life and personal philosophy. Two years later he received a National Book Award citation for poems 1923-1954, and two years after that he won the prestigious bollingen prize in poetry from Yale University (“E.E. Cummings” pg.15). (In his poetry he often ignored the rules of capitalization and has sometimes been referred to as e.e. Cummings) expanded the boundaries of poetry through typographic and linguistic experimentation (Frazee, “E.E. Cummings). An avoidance of capital letters and creative placement of punctuation soon became his trademarks. His experimental poetry took many forms, some amusing, some satirical, some beautiful, some profound, and some which did not make much sense (Frazee “E.E. Cummings”). Typical stylistic devices in his work include: running words together; scattering punctuation symbols cross the page; subverting the conventions of the English sentence; intentional misspellings and phonetic spellings and the invention of compound words such as “puddle-wonderful” (“E.E. Cummings”). However, this obvious experimentation is often combined with strict formal structures and traditional

E. E. Cummings, an author known for his various poems and other forms of artwork, wrote numerous works of poetry over a vast amount of subjects. While the subject matter of the poems differ, a few elements of Cummings' style stays the same in virtually all his poems, some of which is important and some of which is not. The fact that Cummings uses enjambment in his poetry is a stylistic trademark that however annoying its use may be is consistent. Other stylistic trademarks of Cummings' poetry are that Cummings has a control over the tone of each of his poems and that each of his poems has its theme located near the end of the poem. While these traits that may not be highlighted in most of the analysis of his poems, each does occur quite

Cummings’ impressive education consists of a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Harvard, in which he graduated near the top of his class. He submitted many of his poems to the newspaper at Harvard, which sparked his interest towards a career as a poet. When his first poem was published, the publisher left all the letters of E.E. Cummings’ name lowercase. Cummings soon adopted this as his own personal trademark. The style of Cummings’ writing was what made his poems so distinctive. No matter what the topic, he always incorporated a lyrical flow to the poem. Cummings “experimented with typography, slang, dialect, jazz rhymes, and jagged lines” (Anderson et al). By exploring the possibilities of poetry, Cummings was able to create poems that have a beat that corresponds with the tone, mood, and theme of the poem.

The form of “Intellect” is comprised of just six lines—which suggests a call to action for the reader to listen to his wise words. The short form produces a riddle-like tone; it follows a strict rhyme scheme and a very strong rhythm. The lines are end rhymed—this, coupled with the length of the poem—produces an almost child-like simplicity. The morals hidden in “Intellect” aren’t simple per se, nevertheless we are reminded of the riddles of our primary school days; we remember the catchy rhythm and traditional morals we learned from these riddles. The rhythm and meter are also vital aspects of this poem’s structure: each line contains seven syllables and begins with a stressed syllable. This didactic rhythm jumps out of the page at the reader, causing us to pay attention. The stressed and unstressed syllable pattern produces a sing-song effect; the poem beckons us to listen to the wise counsel of Emerson with a child-like openness and implores the reader to find the moral that Emerson is trying to get across.

Poems using strong poetic technique and devices are able to create a wide range of emotions from the readers. Wilfred Owen’s poetry effectively uses these poetic techniques and devices to not only create unsettling images about war but to provide his opinion about war itself with the use of themes within his poem. The use of these themes explored Owen’s ideas on the futility of war and can be seen in the poems: Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility and The Next War. The poems provide unsettling images and belief of war through the treatment of death, barbaric nature of war and the futility of war.

“The relationship between the energies of the inquiring mind that an intelligent reader brings to the poem and the poem’s refusal to yield a single comprehensive interpretation enacts vividly the everlasting intercourse between the human mind, with its instinct to organise and harmonise, and the baffling powers of the universe about it.”