E. E. Cummings
“I am someone who proudly and humbly affirms that love is the mysteryof-mysteries…that an artist, a man, a failure is…a naturally and
miraculously whole human being…whose only happiness is to transcend
himself, whose every agony is to grow.”
Eileen Doyle-Samay and Lisa Bond
Biography
• Born in Caimbridge, massachussettes on
Octobeer 14th, 1894
• Father was a harvand professor, then a
Unitarian minister
• Mother introduced him to writing
• Founded Harvard Poetry Society
• Through a printers error his signature
developed
More biography
• Died September 3, 1962
• was the second most widely read poet in the
United States, after Robert Frost
• http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156
Criticisms of the Critics
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Disliked greatly in his time period
Called hard to read and understand
Accepted by his peers
settling into his signature style and not pressing his work
towards further evolution
• great popularity among young readers, (Because of talk of war
and sex) and writing simplicity
Literary Devices
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Symbolism
Powerful Imagery
Similes
Repetition
Oxymoronic juxtaposition
Poetic Structure
• Disjointed structure
• Punctuation
Works Cited 
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Work Cited
Cummings, E. E. Complete Poems 1913-1962. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972. Print.
Reef, Catherine. E. E. Cummings: A Poet's Life. New York: Clarion, 2006. Print.
Gunton, Sharon R. Contemporary Literary Criticisms. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Print.
ee cummings reads "Somewhere I have never travelled..." Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
- -. "E. E. Cummings." Enotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
Modern American Poetry. "Paintings by E. E. Cummings." Modern American Poetry. N.p., n.d. Web.
27 Feb. 2012.
Thurman, Caryn. "E. E. Cummings." Literary Kicks. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
American Writers Vol. I. N.p.: University of Minnesota, 1974. Print.
- -. "E. E. Cummings." Internal.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
"E. E. Cummings." Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
Bucken. "Grasshopper Info." Titans. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.
Ruspoli, Tao. E.E. Cummings Poem LVI. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.