E.e. Cummings and His Unique Writing Style_ [Essay Example], 3343 words GradesFixer.docx

4/7/2021 E.e. Cummings and His Unique Writing Style: [Essay Example], 3343 words GradesFixer
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E.e. Cummings and His Unique Writing
Style
Abstract
Reading a poem by American modernist poet Edward Estlin Cummings is not
like
reading a poem by other poets. To understand his experimental work, one
must
}rst understand Cummings, his opinions and perspectives. Throughout his
career
Cummings dedicated his life to the pursuit of remaining in an active state of
creating, and therefore experimented with many artistic mediums.
Cummings is
not usually thought of as a classically-in~uenced poet; rather his
unconventional
experimentation with form, grammar, punctuation, spelling and syntax
brought
him much attention, creating an inspiring individuality. Cummings poem ‘i
carry
your heart with me’ is immediately recognizable as a Cummings poem as the
title
gives it away, for he was famous for his use of lowercase, sometimes even
using it
in his name, as in E.E. Cummings. Cummings was a Modernist, and
Modernists
believed in stripping away all that was unnecessary in a poem in order to
showcase
its form. This article examines some interesting features of E. E. Cummings’
poetry,
his style of writing along with a stylistic analysis of E.E Cummings’ poem ”i
carry
your heart with me’, in order to better understand the main idea of the poem
which is ideal, sel~ess and profound love for his beloved.
Introduction
The period of time from the late nineteenth and the early part of the
twentieth
centuries, known as the Modernist period, witnessed the appearance of
mostly
philosophical and profoundly different pieces of literature. The writers of

these
literary works (focusing speci}cally on E.E. Cummings in this paper)
employed and
applied new methods and characteristics concerning style, plot, point of
view,
character, grammar, etc. in their writings. Moreover these authors also had
an
extremely different vision on life in~uenced by years of war and depression,
scienti}c theories such as that of Darwin’s evolution, social disputes
involving
religion, and political issues, which generated a gloomy and weary feeling to
this
period of literature.
Consequently there are numerous works that embody the main
characteristics of
this period. These include the experimental forms such as free verse and
stream of
consciousness which are the easiest to recognize in modernist writings. One
author in particular who regularly applies these experimental forms in his
works is
T.S. Eliot. His poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, is a dramatic
monologue
that makes use of extreme stream of consciousness. Also considered to be
one of
4/7/2021 E.e. Cummings and His Unique Writing Style: [Essay Example], 3343 words GradesFixer
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the most experimental poets and the focus of this paper is American poet
and
painter E.E. Cummings. His use of peculiar experimental word coinages,
shifting of