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The poem “the greedy the people” by e e cummings is extremely complex in structure. Each of its five stanzas is composed of six lines that seem to follow a similar pattern with a rhyme scheme of ABCBAC that is made up of both slant and perfect rhymes; however, the poem is free verse in terms of meter. It does follow a pattern where the first line talks about a group of people and is emphasized with a rhyme, alliteration, or assonance; for example: “the timid the tender” is the first line of the last stanza and contains alliteration. The second line of each stanza is a simile that is put in parenthesis and compares antonyms, such as doubt and trust, or all and each. The last line of each stanza is made up of two words and the last words of each stanza are the only capitalized words in the entire poem. Cummings’ choice of breaking the rules of capitalization shows his rebellious disposition toward traditional writing and gives him a childlike persona and although there is a lacking of imagery in Cummings’ writing, his cynical tone is displayed through this persona, where his judgments ...

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