THE NATURE OF E.E. CUMM/NGS' SONNET FORMS
A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
That E. E. Cummings favored the sonnet form is amply attested by
the number and variety of sonnets he wrote throughout his poetic
career. Sonnets compose forty percent (61 of 150 poems) of this
first manuscript, Tulips and Chimneys (1922), and nearly twentyeight percent (212 of 770 poems) of his canon. Precisely what
Cummings, whose name is synonymous with radical treatment of and
experimentation with such basic poetic elements as prosody and syntax, has done within the restrictive framework of the conventional
sonnet form has been an intriguing and unsettled scholarly question. 1
ln order to answer this question 1 composed a quantitative content
analysis in which 1 adapted methods common to political scientists
and used the Statitical Package for the Social Sciences 2 as a source
of relevant programs. First 1 artificially differentiated between
seventy-six separate variables and then used the SPSS CODEBOOK
program to set up the data.
Deciding which of Cummings' poems are sonnets was not always a
simple task. Cummings can so vary the linear arrangement, seemingly
use free verse, and focus on unlikely topics in a verbal jargon which
actually disguises the form. For the purpose of this paper 1 will
define a sonnet as a fourteen-line lyric poem, written in iambic
pentameter and having four emanations : ltalian, whose stanzas break
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into an octave and sestet with an accompanying poetic turn and threeto-five interlocking rhymes; English, with three quatrains and a couplet
according to shift in rhymes, spacing, and poetic turn; Combined, a
variation using features of the two previous forms; and lrregu/ar, an
experimental version with an unconventional rhyme scheme, stanza
spacing, and/or poetic turn. Diagram 1 further delineates the dichotomy between traditional and experimental poetic elements as 1 will
elucidate them in Cummings' sonnets.
ln the following discussion 1 intend first to illustrate the coding of
a representative sonnet and then to give a general sense of how
Cummings innovated within his 212 sonnets : to explain which
traditional aspects he retained, which he reereated anew, and which
he discarded in preference to a new mode of poetic expression.
The actual coding process demanded strict adherence to a detailled
codebook and consistent judgment in the evaluation of variable
values, as this example demonstrates. ldentified as number 143 (see
figure 1 ), "pity this busy monster, manunkind," was included within
the 1944 volume 1 x 1 [One Times One] (TIME = 44). lts meter
is predominantly iambic pentameter; as a result, we find no metric
alternatives (METER, METVAR each = 0). lambic variations include
initial hard word or syllabe, trochaic/iambic tension and reversai,
short lines of three-to-four feet, anapests and dactyls (IAMBVAR
08). ln rhyme, sonnet 143 continues to evince semi-irregularity.
lt comprises both rh y me and not rhyme ( R 1ME = 2). We can
type those rhymes which do appear as rhyme approximate in sound
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DIAGRAM 1
TRADITIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL CONCEPTS OF
THE SONNET PARADIGM (ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC
POETIC ELEMENT)
Element
Experimental Concept
Form
Jtalian, English, Combined
(by rhyme scheme, poetic
turn, and stanza _spacing)
lrregular
Content
Love-oriented, womanfocused, reflective of
persona's introspection
Topics other than love,
Jess concern for women,
Jess emotional poet
Language
Romantic, neutra!,
mixed
Satiric, neutra!, mixed
Prosody
Regularity in rhythm,
imagery, specifie deviees;
majority iambic pentameter,
exact rhyme
lrregular rhythm, slant or
half rhyme, few deviees,
Linguistics
c:..,
.....
Traditional Concept
Normal grammar, syntax,
semantics, punctuation, and
typography
experimental meter
Eccentric but recognizable
expression and visual
appearance
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and/or accent and exact rhyme rather than identical or echoed rhyme
(RIMEAS, RIMEAA, RIMEEX each = 0; RIMEIDEN, RIMEECHO
each = 1 ). The rhymes scheme into an amorphous grouping--abacda
edecfgfg (RIMESCH = 117)--which has poetic turns coming within
the eighth and twelfth lines (BREAK = 63).
Spatially this sonnet is divided experimentally into eight unequal
units ( SPACE = 3). Consequently. its formai classification as lrregular is apt (FORM = 4).
More traditionally, sonnet 143 does have a firm sense of rhythm
(RHYTHM = 0). The sonnet is a satire, as its social message, mixed
neutral and satiric language, and burlesque tone underline (GENRE,
THE ME each = 01; LANG = 5; TONE = 06). Moreover, of the nine
poetic deviees which 1 selected to study--symbol, alliteration, assonance, personification, apostrophe, paradox, oxymoron, wordplay,
and both implied and stated comparisons--only two, oxymoron and
wordplay, remain unused (SYM, ALLIT, ASSON, PERSON, APOS,
PARA, WORDPLAY each = 0; OXY = 1; META = 3). The sonnet
also embodies comparisons to celestial bodies and natural phenomena
(NATURE = 12).
We continue to see this superimposing of traditional upon experimental elements in both imagery and typography. Sonnet 143 uses
Cummings' unique "verbal" imagery, which incorporates syntax and
language for effect rather than function. Too, the poet focuses on
an impersonal adult and his own persona rather than a woman
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FIGURE 1
SONNET 143 AND ITS CODE
/U
U
/U
1
1
U
1
V
a
pity this busy monster, manunkind,
1
1
not.
ut
/u;v
ulu
Progress is a comfortable disease :
u
lU
1
u
1uLit
1
your victim (death and life safely beyond)
1
U
lulU
Li
u
1
u
lU 1
1
LI
1
1
1
V
1
U
1
U
into a mountainrange; lenses extend
1
u 1
v
1
l)
1
u
v 1
unwish through curving wherewhen till unwish
v 1
u v 1 u
returns on its unself. u
u
1
1
A world of made
1
UfU
V
1
f
lu
1
is not a world of born--pity poor flesh
lJ
1
1
1
u
1
u
1 v
(1
and trees, poor stars and stones, but never this
/UU
1
/U/VU
V
ulu
ultraomnipotence.
U
1
U
1
U
IUU
1
/
1
d
e
c
U
g
f
a hopeless case if--listen : there's a hell
UUI
e
1
We doctors know
lU
a
f
fine specimen of hypermagical
tuuluu
c
d
--electrons deify one razorblade
UIV
a
IV{
plays with the bigness of his littleness
u
b
f
113
of a good universe next door; let's go
g
143 44 0 08 0 2 117 4 0 0 0 1 1 0 01 5 06 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
3 12 8 0 1 1 2 1 1 1 29 06 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 01 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2 0 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 63
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(IMAGE = 4; PEOPLE = 8; WOMEN = 0). On the other hand, the
visual appearance is only slightly unconventional; that is, of the
typographically experimental variables--spacing, pictorialism, irony,
and line integrity--only one applies : there is one instance of irregular
linear level (TYIRLINE = 2; TYSPACED, TYPO, TYSEEBE, TYIRONY
each = 1).
Both semantically and grammatically sonnet 143 is basically normal
with few variations (SEMANTX, G RAMMAR each = 1 ). Cummings
created new words by adding the prefix "un-," compounding or
hyphenating pre-existing words, and substituting pronouns or substantives for an unidentified noun. Contrarily, the sonnet does not
include altered denotations; in sorne cases the meaning is only made
ambiguous because of the unreferenced pronouns or substantives
(NEWWORDS = 29; NEWMEAN = 06). Grammatically there is
word mixing, but not word dismemberment. More regularity arises
in the lack of run-on lines, run-on interrupters, sentence fragments,
and juxtaposed accented words (WORDMIX = 0, WORDDISM,
RUNONL, RUNONI, SENTFRAG, HEAVY each = 1 ).
Likewise, the punctuation and capitalization which we encounter
within this sonnet are conventional; normal punctuation delimits
phrases (PUNC = 0; LINFRAS = 1 ). Only the standard deviations
discovered in most of Cummings'sonnets--no ending punctuation or
initial capitalization--are found here (IREND, IRSTART each = 0).
Otherwise, we notice irregularity neither between words or parts of
words nor in the usage of the period, comma, semicolon, colon,
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question mark, exclamation point, parenthesis, dash, hyphen, ellipsis
or quotation marks. Capitalization of common words, noncapitalization of proper nouns, rhetorical capitalization, and rhetorical
punctuation do not appear (PUNCI RW, PUNCI RS, CAPCOM, NOCAPPRO, RHETCAP, RHETPUNC, IRPERIOD, IRCOMMA, IRSEM,
IRCOLON, IROUPT, IREXCLAM, IRPAREN, IRDASH, IRHYPHEN,
ELLIPSIS, 1ROUOTE each = 1). Parentheses are, however, used as
a qualifier or contributer of additional information (PARENS = 3).
Finally, the syntax of sonnet 143 demonstrates minor departures from
standard use of parts of speech, but not from normal sentence structure (SYNTAX = 1; IRSENSTR = 2). A noun is formed by syntactic dislocation, but not an adjective, adverb, or verb (SYND ISN = 0;
SYNDISAJ, SYNDISAV, SYNDISVB each = 1).
Tables 1 and Il depict, in an abbreviated form, the results of the
computer analysis. Table 1 lists the higher percentage of either traditional or experimental sonnets which use the prosodie and linguistic
characteristics, while table Il delineates percentage inclusion of content
variables. ln sorne cases, wl-ere a variable such as NEWWORDS
involved multiple irregular values, 1 recoded it into a simple dichotomy of traditional and experimental groupings.
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General overview
Our examination of the first table, like our coding of the typical
sonnet, demonstrates that Cummings was overwhelmingly experimental or traditional only in some areas. The prosody of his sonnets
shows nearly as much regularity as irregularity. Sixty-four percent
of the sonnets have experimental meter and metric variations; less
than 0.5 percent of the sonnets are without iambic variations. Further
poetic license can be seen in the preponderance of irregular poetic
turns, stanza spacing, and rhythm; slant rhyme , that approximate
in sound and/or accent; and common, but unused, sonnet deviees
such as symbol, personification, apostrophe, paradox, oxymoron, and
wordplay. On the other hand, Cùmmings was traditional in his use
of exact rhyme, at the same time as he excluded echoed and identical rhyme; his choice of ltalian, English, and Combined forms; general imagery; and use of alliteration, assonance, and metaphor/simile.
Linguistically and identical pattern of partial regularity and semiirregularity appears.
Ninety-one percent of ali sonnets evince some
experimental vocabulary, whether through the creation of new words,
new meanings, or 'bath modes.
Nearly 92 percent also have abnormal
syntax, which frequently takes the form of irregular sentence structure, including run-on lines and run-on interrupters, more often than
sentence fragments, juxtaposed accented words, or syntactic dislocation to form nouns, adjectives, adverbs, or verbs, although these
three experimental methods do occur.
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Another preponderantly irregular variable is general punctuation,
which shows 84 percent variance. Most frequently there is punctuation irregularity between words, no ending punctuation, no initial
punctuation, rhetorical punctuation, linear phrasing, and use of
parentheses. The remainder of the innovative punctuation variables
demonstrate only a slight instance of occurrence. Yet, the mere
fact that they appear at ali suggests that Cummings was experimenting with multiple ways of modifying his poetic expression.
While fewer in number, the linguistically traditional elements are
nonetheless important. As many sonnets have regular as irregular grammar (50 percent each); usually the abnormality takes the form of word
mixing in preference to word dismemberment, although both of these
modes still are regular in 53 and 84 percent of the sonnets. So, too,
is the overall typographie nature of the majority of the sonnets
(52 percent) normal. However, occasional irregularities in visual
appearance do occur; among these are found instances of typographie
spacing, irregular linear level, pictography, and typographie irony
(use of ampersands, numerals, etc.).
Table Il continues to sketch the general nature of the content
variables within Cummings' sonnets by giving percentage appearance
of specifie values. Sixty-eight percent of ali Cummings' sonnets use
natural imagery; this number is lower than one might expect to find
in a traditional poet. ln contrast, a high percentage (88) of the
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sonnets are people-oriented; 58 percent of these include the persona,
demonstrating that Cummings remained a traditionalist in terms of his
focus and point of view.
Furthermore, a majority of ali sonnets
concern women.
Congruent with his experimental approach, intermingling the traditional with the innovative, Cummings wrote more of his sonnets in
neutra! or mixed, rather than emotional or romantic, language.
Likewise, an analytic tone predominates, with emotional and humorous/satiric following.
Finally, more than half of his sonnets are
neither "romantic" in terms of basic style and intent nor "loving"
in theme.
Philosophie and impressionist styles account for more
sonnets than romantic, just as themes of life combined with those
of society and man surpass those of love.
Experimentalism
The first indicator that E.E. Cummings is a dedicated experimentalist
with the sonnet is his creation of 155 different rhymes schemes for
his 212 sonnets.
Of these, 9.4 percent determine the form as being
ltalian, 27.4 percent as English, 17 percent as Combined, and 46.2
percent--the largest single value--as lrregular.
Contrarily, Cummings
was fairly conventional in his use of rhyme.
Twice he wrote
unrhymed sonnets, occasionally he combined rhyme and not-rhyme,
but he rhymed the majority of his sonnets (82 percent) in sorne
fashion or another.
What superficially appears as free or blank
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verse upon first sight almost always becomes rhyme approximate in
accent or sound (half-rhyme) at second glanee.
Cummings also inno-
vated with sound similarities, attempting to have recognized as rhyme
family vowel sounds, such as "grow/you, do/now, be/may, knows/kiss,
to/no, why/the" (see sonnets 144, 145, 153, 156, 157, 162).
The poetic turns that we find within these sonnets are nearly as
myriad as the rhyme schemes and types. The 79 percent irregularity
of this variable diffuse into seventy-eight different placements, occurring singly or in combination both between and within !ines. The
single most repetitive irregularity cornes between !ines thirteen and
fourteen (8 percent).
The second indicator is his experimentation with the traditional
iambic pentameter meter (64 percent). Yet, while Cummings became
expert at attaining the probable outer limit of formai structure,
rhyme, and break combinations, he remained stable in his choice of
experimental metric variations from the iambic foot ( IAMBVAR) and
pentameter meter (METVAR).
The most frequently occurring
IAMBVAR values are initial hard syllable or word, trochaic/iambic
tensions and reversai, short lines of three-to-four feet, several anapests
and dactyls (49.5 percent); these values plus long !ines of six-to-eight
feet (23 percent); ali previous values except long and short lines
(15.5 percent). ln a similar fashion, the pentameter variable
(METVAR) falls into three major value groups. Discarding the
35.8 percent sonnets to which this variable is not applicable, 41
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percent of the remaining 136 sonnets have few or no iambic pentameter !ines or other patterned metric, 38.8 percent have five-foot
!ines but with a combined pattern of iambic and other, and 20
percent have a dominate iambic pattern but with an irregular number
of feet per line. The finaly one percent includes two majority
trochaic foot sonnets with !ines of varying length.
A third characteristic of Cummings' experimentalism resides in his
eccentricities with the typographie nature of sorne of his sonnets.
Only 52.4 percent of Cummings' sonnets are written conventionally.
ln the remaining sonnets he introduced such typographie innovations
as words, syllabes, or letters spaced across the page (12.3 percent);
irregular linear levels of one-to-three !ines (38.7 percent), four-toseven !ines (6.6 percent), or over eight !ines (2.4 percent); pictography, where the visual poem echoes its meaning (2.4 percent); or use
of ampersands, equal signs, and numerals (4. 7 percent).
How Cummings chose to divide his sonnets into stanza units and to
determine their phraseology constitute not only two more methods
of carying a sonnet's format, but also indicate his dissatisfaction
with traditional stanzas and forms of punctuation. ln addition to
being a formai factor, SPACE is sometimes, but not necessarily,
related to the TYPO variable in that Cummings often used typographically irregular !ines as a means of composing structural units.
At other times he merely increased the number of blank !ines
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between blacks of type, thereby simulating stanzas.
lt is interesting
to note that 18.4 percent of the sonnets are displayed on the page
in a solid black form, in octave/sestet divisions, or in three quatrains
with a final couplet; 10.8 percent have one-to-three irregular stanzas;
44.3 percent have four-ta-six irregular stanzas; and 26.4 percent have
over seven unequal stanza units. By the same token, LINFRAS
measures the use of lines as a form of punctuation or linear phrasing.
lt, tao, is often related to the TYPO variable; Cummings frequently
(25.4 percent) varied line level instead of using the proper form of
punctuation. At other times or in combination with linear level
variation, he used the line end as a phrasing unit (58 percent).
Another of Cummings'areas of innovation is his manipulation of the
elements of language or communication. As 1 earlier explained,
Cummings' linguistic experimentation with grammar (50 percent),
semantics (81 percent), and punctuation (84 percent) is integral to
his philosophy of poetics : improvise to attain immediacy of the
experience.
ln addition, Cummings so indulged in the economie,
compacted individualistic style exemplified by Dante Gabriel
Rossetti and which includes the use of unusual, archaic, and Latinate
words that he created a special form of imagery--verbal imagery-wherein he varied ward form and function in arder to attain an
impressionistiè, sometimes esoteric, effect.
Other linguistic abnormalities which Cummings adapted into his
sonnets also did not originate with him.
ln fact, (1) compression
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or ellipsis, (2) creation of new words by adding the "un-" prefix
and using it to express the negative of the root word, and (3) corn•
pounding old words in a new way, even assigning a new sense and
function in sorne cases, 4 are evident in English sonnets since the
time of Shakespeare. As the variables NEWWORDS and NEWMEAN
explicate, these three forms among others appear in Cummings' sonnets.
The four most repetitive NEWWORDS values by order of recurrence
are compounds, -ly, un-, and other word substitution for nouns.
Correspondingly, the methods by which Cummings varied the meanings
of these newly created words (NEWMEAN) divide overwhelmingly
into three groups : extension of the word's meaning by using it in
a different form and context (a symptom of syntactic dislocation);
extension of basic meaning by compound, hyphen, prefix, or suffix;
and ambiguity of meaning through use of unreferenced pronouns or
substantives instead of nouns.
Lastly, as table Il illustrates, Cummings had certain favorite topics
upon which he centered his sonnets, but he embraced no thematic
unity per se.
Love may have accounted for the foremost single
stylistic approach (34 percent) and theme (42 percent) in his sonnets,
but neither of these constitutes a majority.
ln fact, philosophie and
impressionistic sytles total 46 percent while life, society, and man
account for 42 percent of ali sonnet themes.
Furtharmore, of the
52 percent of the sonnets in which women appear, the poet's
reaction to them can be divided into five attitudes : ( 1) negative,
5 percent; (2) positive/impersonal, 7 percent; (3) positive/sympathy,
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7 percent; (4) love/physical, 10 percent; and love/spiritual, 23 percent.
Cummings described woman as playmate, soulmate, and inspiration;
she is obtainable and she is real.
As poet/persona he is either an
impartial observer, describing intercourse and its feelings, or an emotional participant, regarding the beloved in a spiritual as weil as
physical fashion.
Rarely does the woman have a name; rather, she
is the archetype of Woman and, as such, exists only in his perception
of her effect upon him.
Nevertheless, in his experimentaion with the customary attitudes,
style, and themes, Cummings did retain one key traditional concept
the idea that love may encourage or allow the poet to participate in
an elevated state or feeling. His repeated emphasis on the ennobling
qualities of love--Cummings believed that through love man broke
from the bonds of egotistical self, related to the other, and achieved
a holistic vision of the universe 5 --has occasioned Cummings being
called both a romantic and a transcendentalist 6.
Conclusions
Undoubtedly the results of the content analysis indicate that E. E.
Cummings' concepts about the nature of the traditional and an
experimental sonnet were interwoven.
Synthesizing historical tech-
niques with his present fortes and interests, Cummings' attitude
towards sonnet deviees, content, and language was as empirical as
that towards a focus on woman-worship and tightly-knit form.
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The challenge before Cummings was to infuse new into the old
without crumbling historical customs.
He wanted to discover his
own poetic strengths and weaknesses at the same time as he searched
for those elements which made an effective modern sonnet.
he worked bath within and against the sonnet tradition.
Thus,
ln this
process Cummings broadened the concept of what elements a poet
can successfully manipulate during his effort to communicate a poetic
vision or experience. To the previous variables of form, content, and
semantics, Cummings added syntax, punctuation, grammar, and typography or visual appearance.
Simulteneously embracing and flouting
conventional poetic norms, E. E. Cummings gradually discarded the
definitional features of the sonnet until only one criterion remained-the sonnet is (usually) a fourteen-line, iambic pentameter, lyric poem.
2506 56th Street
Lu bbock, Texas 79413
Judith A. VANDERBOK
U.S.A.
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NOTES
1- See Theodore Spencer, "Technique as Joy," Perspectives USA, 2
(Winter 1953), 23-29; Norman Friedman, e.e. cummings : The
Growth of a Writer (Carbondale : Southern Illinois, University
Press, 1964) and e.e. cummings : The Art of His Poetry
(Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1960); and
Bethany Dumas, E.E. Cummings : A Remembrance of Miracles
(London : Vision Press, 1974).
2- Norman H. Nie et. al., Statistical Package for the Social Sciences,
2nd. ed. (New York : MxGraw-Hill, 1975).
3- E.E. Cummings, Poems 1923-1954(Harcourt, Brace & World, 1954),
p. 397.
4- Dorothy L. Sipe, "Shakespeare' s Metrics," Yale Studies in English,
166 (1969), 189-92.
5- Patricia Tai-Mason, "The Whole E.E. Cummings," TCL, 14 (july
1968), 90-97.
6- Friedman, Growth, p. 5.
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TABLE 1 (continued)
TRADIT/ONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ELEMENTS
OF E.E. CUMMINGS' POETRY (BY PERCENTAGE
OF HIGHER APPEARANCE)
Trad.
Percent
Variables
Exper.
Percent
Linguistics
IRSTART (no initial cap.)
RHETPUNC (rhetorical punc.) ·
CAPCOM (cap. of common
nouns)
NOCAPPRO (noncap. of proper nouns)
RHETCAP (rhetorical cap.)
IRPERIOD (irreg. period)
1RCOMMA (irreg. semicolon)
1RSEM (irreg. semicolon)
1RCO LON (irreg. colon)
1ROU PT (irreg. question mark)
1R EXC LAM (irreg. eclamation
point)
1RPAREN (irreg. parenthesis)
PARENS (use of parentheses)
1RDASH (irreg. dash)
IRHYPHEN (irreg. hyphen)
ELLIPSIS (use of ellipsis)
1ROUOTE (irreg. quotation
marks)
96.7
58.0
61.8
80.7
64.6
84.4
60.8
69.3
60.4
96.2
98.1
79.2
81.1
73.1
85.8
78.8
97.6
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TABLE 1 (Continued)
TRADITIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ELEMENTS
OF E.E. CUMMINGS' POETRY (BY PERCENTAGE
OF HIGHER APPEARANCE)
Trad.
Percent
Variables
Exper.
Percent
Linguistics
TYPO (linear level)
TYSPACED (letters spaced)
TYIRLINE (irreg. level)
TYSEEBE (typo pictures)
TYIRONY (typo. irony)
SYNTAX
RUNONL (run-on lines)
RUNONI (run-on interrupters)
SENTF RAG (sentence fragments)
H EAVY (juxtaposed accented
words)
1RSENSTR (irreg. sentence
structure)
SYNDISN (syntactic dislocation to form a noun)
SYNDISAJ (ta form adjective)
SYNDISAV (to form adverb)
SYNDISVB (to form verb)
52.4
87.7
52.4
96.6
95.3
91.5
75.0
72.6
77.4
54.2
90.6
51.4
60.8
96.2
80.7
·49-
Extrait de la Revue (R.E.L.O.)
XIII, 1 à 4, 1977. C.I.P.L. - Université de Liège - Tous droits réservés.
TABLE Il
CONTENT VARIABLES IN E.E. CUMMINGS' SONNETS
(BY PERCENTAGE APPEARANCE) .·
Variables
Percent
NATURE (comparisons with)
PEOPLE (concern for)
Persona-centered
WOMEN (attitude towards)
LANG (language)
Neutra!
Laudatory
Satiric
Mixed
TONE
Analytic
Emotional
Hu morous/satiric
GENRE (basic Styles)
Love
Philosophy
Impression
Satire
Portrait
Personification
Praise /celebration
67.5
88.2
57.5
51.9
53.8
2.8
1.9
41.5
47.6
31.3
21.2
34.0
25.0
21.2
10.4
5.2
2.4
1.8
-50-
Extrait de la Revue (R.E.L.O.)
XIII, 1 à 4, 1977. C.I.P.L. - Université de Liège - Tous droits réservés.
TABLE Il (Continued)
CONTENT VARIABLES IN E.E. CUMMINGS' SONNETS
(BY PERCENTAGE APPEARANCE)
Variables
THE ME
Love
Li fe
Society/man
Nature
Science/art
Time/death
Percent
41.5
29.7
12.3
9.9
3.3
3.3
-51-
Extrait de la Revue (R.E.L.O.)
XIII, 1 à 4, 1977. C.I.P.L. - Université de Liège - Tous droits réservés.