No other poet stretches the definition of poetry quite as far as E.E. Cummings. Shetley, in his review in the New Republic magazine, called him “an experimentalist who sought to remake poetic form” (39). His use of erratic capitalization, invention of new words, and large amounts of spacing created truly unique poems that paint dramatic pictures. One such example is his poem “in Just-.” At first glance, it appears to be an image of spring and childhood. However, under the layer of free verse lies a deeper meaning, one centered around childhood innocence and its disappearance during puberty. Through a foundationalist approach, one can understand the meaning of “in Just-” clearer than by simply taking a literal reading of the poem. With an understanding …show more content…
The first appearance of “in Just-” was in Cummings’ first collection of poems, in a book titled Tulips and Chimneys. More specifically, it is in a section titled Chansons Innocents. In his essay on Cummings’ poetry, Landles connects Chansons Innocents to William Blake’s Songs of Innocence (32). Both collections have common themes in the poems; they all deal with innocence, particularly childhood innocence. This childlike theme explains the diction in “in Just-,” with words like “puddle-wonderful” and “mud-luscious.” A careful observation of Tulips and Chimneys show that Cummings had carefully arranged his poems into sections based on themes. Therefore, one of the greatest mistakes in understanding “in Just-” is reading the poem by itself. Cummings’ attempts to make his poetry mirror paintings are not just contained in one poem, but often in compilations with many other poems. Critics of Chansons Innocents, such as Buck, have realized that this “painting” created by Cummings is not one of pure childhood innocence, but one of “veiled” sexual energy, depicted by hidden images appearing in “in Just-” and throughout Chansons Innocents (149). In the case of “in Just-,” sexual images are hidden in the balloon man. Although Cummings appears to have had positive memories of the balloon man of his childhood, the balloon-man of “in Just-” has a darker, more sexualized undertone. The “goat-footed balloonMan” appears to be an allusion to the lascivious half-goat satyrs of Greek mythology. Although the idea of sexual images in an innocence poem such as “in Just-” appears to be a stretch, Buck backs up his theory by pointing out sexual allusions in the third poem of Chansons Innocents. According to Buck, phrases like “so little” and “smells sweetly” in an innocence poem about tree-trimming are allusions to a sexual experience (150). These allusions
The poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” by E.E. Cummings talks about the cycle of life and the importance of structure, symbolism, and language of the poem. For instance, the poem has nine stanzas, which has a rhyming pattern of AABC. The rhythm of the poem is significant for it supports one of themes, the cycle of life. Cumming uses season to explain the poem's progress. “spring summer autumn winter” (3) and “sun moon stars rain” (8) symbolizes time passing, which represents life passing. In the poem, as the seasons and skies rotate, life continues along with them. In addition, the uses of the words “snow” (22), “buried” (27), “was by was” (28), and “day by day” (29) leading to death. Towards the end of the poem, the depression of death was mention, but Cumming was just stating the n...
Billy Collins is one of the most credited poets of this century and last. He is a man of many talents, most recognized though by his provocative and riveting poetry. As John McEnroe was to the sport of tennis, Billy Collins has done the same for the world of poetry. Collin’s rejected the old ways of poetry, created his own form, broke all the rules, and still retains the love and respect of the poet community. Collins has received the title of Poet Laureate of the United States twice and also has received countless awards and acknowledgements. He has achieved this through a style of poetry that is not over-interpreted and hard to understand to most, but that of the complete opposite, his poetry is hospitable and playful.
Not so much in, "In Just-" but Cummings took his father's pastoral background and used it to preach in many of his other poems. In "you shall above all things be glad and young," Cummings preaches to the reader in verse telling them to love with naivete and innocence, rather than listen to the world and depend on their mind.
The first poetic device the speaker uses to convey his or her meaning in this poem is the unorthodox grammar and sentence structure. The poem starts with the lines “anyone lived in a pretty how town / (with up so floating many bells down)” (1 – 2). In this case, this improper grammar reinforces the point that is the story of “anyone” (1). As such, the “how town” (1) represents the fact that the name of the town does not need to be specified, as this happens to everyone in every town. The speaker therefore alludes that the events of this poem are natural and they happen to anyone anywhere. E.E. Cummings deliberately uses “anyone” (1) and “no one” (12) as pronouns with ambiguous antecedents to generalize the poem’s meaning to society and all people in it. In this way, the speaker uses these thoughts as social commentary.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
Edward Estlin Cummings, abbreviated to E. E. Cummings, although he was more popularly known in all lowercase letters as e. e. cummings, was an admirably influential American poet, author, playwright, and essayist. His renowned experimentation with poetic form and language in order to create his own personal style is his most prominent accomplishment. Often, he revamped and combined words to create new ones of his own style and in his own likeness. Cummings also bent grammatical and linguistic rules to accomplish his own purposes; he incorporated the usage of words like “if” and “because” as nouns, something odd and unheard of in his time period. He was first sneered at, jeering faces refusing to accept his twisted style as poetry, but quickly his work rose to such a revered status that it shone alongside the ubiquitous writings of the great Robert Frost. The entire collection of Cummings work includes a huge number of approximately 2900 poems, as well as several novels, and countless diary entries of eloquence and skill from even the earliest years of his childhood. E. E. Cummings was, in truth, a genius, for he spent his time inventing new ways of arranging poetry in certain line types, intercepting idea with parentheses and writing backwards and in spiraling loops to emphasize his intricately concealed main points. In his time, this was extremely uncouth and unheard of, and as he steadily grew to become a famous name worldwide, more wanted to read his works. The underlying meanings in his poems were so obscure, it was hard to see past them the very first time one laid eyes on them, as it was to see past the psychical barriers E. E. Cummings hid behind when in public, and sometimes even with those he truly cared about. This sec...
Ferguson, Margaret W., Salter, Mary J., and Stallworthy, Jon. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. fifth ed. N.p.: W.W. Norton, 2005. 2120-2121. 2 Print.
...number of visual effects in his poetry. He combined the lack of punctuation, capitalization, and creative spacing with his topics, such as the seasons, to convey his messages. Some readers find the visual effects in his poems disconcerting and feel that they are meaningless because of it. However, others find his visual effects helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of his poems and the messages he was trying to convey. Cummings' poems were definitely meant to be viewed rather than simply listened to so that the reader can benefit from the full effect of them. His poetry does not follow traditional rules and is very unpredictable. As a result, they leave more room for your imagination to soar.
Strand, Mark and Evan Boland. The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. New
The popular American Poet, Billy Collins, is playing a significant role in the evolution of poetry. His writing style evokes an array of emotions for the reader. Every stanza in his poetry passes the satirical standard that he generated for himself over his career. Collins swiftly captivates his readers through his diverse use of figurative language. More specifically, his use of vivid imagery paired with humorous personification and extended metaphors create his unique style of satirical poetry. This developed form of writing appeals to a large crowd of people because the generally accessible topics that he discusses are fairly easy to resonate for the common man. However, his poetry offers an interesting perspective on what otherwise would be simplistic ideas. The main themes and concepts that are being presented in each of his writings are revered and coveted by the general population. An appealing aspect of his writing is his ability to directly convey the main idea within the poem. As a result, the reader can understand the meaning of his work with ease. The typical beginning of his work gives the reader a slight taste of what is to come. Billy Collins’ unique writing style and various trademarks directly influenced by his ability to propagate an array of emotions for the reader, his humorous tone, and the accessibility of the topics he describes within his poetry.
“Poe’s Theory of Poetry.” The Big Read. Handout One. N.d.. 16. Web. 19 April 2014.
...vocal statement about the ?organic? possibilities of poetry than optimistic readers might have expected. ?Mayflies? forces us to complicate Randall Jarrell?s neat formulation. Here Wilbur has not just seen and shown ?the bright underside of? a ?dark thing.? In a poem where the speaker stands in darkness looking at what ?animate[s] a ragged patch of glow? (l.4), we are left finally in a kind of grayness. We look from darkness into light and entertain an enchanting faith that we belong over there, in the immortal dance, but we aren?t there now. We are in the machine-shop of poetry. Its own fiat will not let us out completely.
Billy Collins has used a specific metaphor, simile, rhyme and personification in his poem ‘Introduction to poetry’ in order to show how one should better understand a poem. This poem focused on what the poem actually mean and how a poem should be clearly understood. Throughout the poem, Billy Collins has presented a clear way of understanding the poem by using a very interesting imagery, symbolism, metaphor and a very sensitive sound. The words used in this poem are so powerful that the readers are convinced to think about the issue presented in the poem.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia, eds. An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 21. Print.
When discussing the different aspects of New Criticism in Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle into The Good Night”, the impression that comes to mind is death. The use of imagery was a necessity for Dylan Thomas to express the different techniques of writing which involved a mixture of surrealistic and metaphysical tones. His ability to change a words meaning to incorporate symbolism is noticeable in circle of unity from life to death and renewed life.