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World Literature 1
A Study of the Edward Estlin Cummings and his Works
A Research Paper Presented to
Prof. Matilde Bangoy
Mapua Institute of Technology
In partial fulfilment
of the requirements in
Readings in World Literature
(HUM15)
By:
Nikko Espiritu
Regina Gavino
Norman Grecia III
September 2012
World Literature 2
Table of Contents:
Introduction -----------------------------------------------------------
3
Body of Research -----------------------------------------------------------
4
Early Life, Education -----------------------------------------------------------
4
Life During the World War--------------------------------------------------------- 5
Marriage to Elaine Orr -----------------------------------------------------------
5
Tulips & Chimney and XLI Poems ----------------------------------------------- 6
Artistic and Literary Revolution -------------------------------------------------- 6
Death of his Father and his Transition Period ----------------------------------- 6
Marriage to Anne Minnerly Barton ----------------------------------------------- 7
Love Affair with Marion Morehouse --------------------------------------------- 7
Peak of Success, Final Years------------------------------------------------------- 7
Death and Aftermath -----------------------------------------------------------
8
Political and Religious Views ----------------------------------------------------- 9
Writing Style -----------------------------------------------------------
9
Themes and Motifs -----------------------------------------------------------
10
World Literature 3
Behind ee cummings -----------------------------------------------------------
10
Awards -----------------------------------------------------------
11
Works -----------------------------------------------------------
12
Conclusion -----------------------------------------------------------
13
Bibliography -----------------------------------------------------------
14
Introduction:
The world of traditional literature full of romantic words, carefully crafted words under the
grammar rules and goodness was stricken by an obscure writer and his obscure thoughts
With his distinct style and unconventional way of writing, EE Cummings made his mark in the
world of Artistry and Literature. His transcendentalism and obscure ideologies made quite a stir
and is still a subject of controversy in among literary critics, but Cummings’ works showed a raw
voice of honest emotion that can only be expressed in the way he can. Cummings is also
considered as one of the greatest love poets in America, and at the same time, was able to portray
both the wholesome and sensual side without fear of censorship.
This study shows the life of Edward Estlin Cummings, and what made him in his entirety and his
style stand out from everyone else.
World Literature 4
Body of the Research:
Early Life
Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His
father, Edward Cummings was a sociology professor at Harvard University. He later on became
nationally known as Old South Church’s minister in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother,
Rebecca Haswelle Clark was a housewife. Edward Estlin also had one sibling, Elizabeth
Cummings.
Outside family, Edward grew up with the company of some of their family friends like William
James and Josiah Royce.
It was said that his mother introduced young Edward to literature. Edward at an early age of
eight years old started writing poetries. Aside from writing, Edward Estlin also paints.
Education
World Literature 5
Belonging to a well-off family, Edward’s family was able to afford to send him in a good school
that is Harvard University. In Harvard, Edward’s talent in writing poetry was honed more, and he
soon developed and adapted a distinct style that became his identifier. After graduation, he
worked as a book dealer.
Life during the World War I
When the First World War in Europe sparked, Edward along with his friend John Dos Passos
enlisted for Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps. By some mistake, Edward didn’t end up in the
Ambulance Corps. He stayed in Paris for five weeks, and returned after.
During Edward’s service in the Ambulance Corps, he and his friend William Slater Brown
became under the suspicion due to the letters they sent to their family where they expressed their
lack of hatred to the German. They were arrested for the charge of suspicion of espionage and
undesirable activities for three and a half months in a military detention camp at Normandy. His
father tried to appeal for Edward’s release through diplomatic channels, and even wrote to
President Wilson in December 1917. Edward was released shortly after, and his friend William
Brown two months after. His experience in the detention camp became an inspiration on one of
the books that he wrote called “The Enormous Room” as they were detained in a large room.
He returned to the United States of America in New Year’s Day of 1918, and was drafted into
the army. He served in the 12th Division at Camp Devens, Massachusetts until the end of the said
year.
World Literature 6
Marriage to Elaine Orr
The relationship of Orr and Cummings started as an extramarital affair, since Elaine Orr was
then married to Scofield Thayer who was Cummings’ friend from Harvard. The affair produced
a daughter, Nancy Cummings, who was Edward’s only child in his lifetime. Thayer divorced
Orr, and Elaine married Cummings shortly after in March 19, 1924. However, they separated
two months after and divorced nine months later. Elaine left Cummings for a wealthy Irish
banker and went to Ireland with Nancy. With the court’s order, Cummings was granted three
months of Nancy’s custody, but Elaine never abide. Cummings never saw her daughter again
after which.
Tulips and Chimney and XLI Poems
In 1921, Cummings returned to Paris and stayed there for two years. He went back to New York
and settled in a tiny apartment in Greenwich Village. After which, his poem collection called
Tulips and Chimney was published in 1923. In 1925, XLI Poems was published. Tulips and
Chimney were cut by the editor due to Cummings’ intense grammatical and syntax errors. XLI
Poems has the same characteristics. These two collections was his debut on the avant-garde
poetry. He received a Dial Award in 1925, but it still made the publishers not get his works.
Artistic and Literary Revolution in Europe
The artistic and literary revolution has not reached the United States yet so he decided to go to
Europe. Cummings returned to Paris to participate in the revolution. He also travelled through
Europe for meetings, and one time was with the famous Pablo Picasso. He went to the Soviet
Union in 1931, and wrote something inspired from it called Eimi which was published in 1933.
He travelled through Northern America and Mexico too, while working as an essayist and
portrait artist for Vanity Fair magazine in 1924-1927.
World Literature 7
Death of his Father and his Transition Period
Cummings’ father was killed in a car accident in 1926. His mother fortunately survived albeit
heavily injured. He wrote about a detailed passage of the accident in one of the Charles Eliot
Norton Lectures.
The death of his father affected Cummings massively. He focused his works on a more important
aspect of life. This new perspective was, he said, in paying respect and gratitude to his father. He
wrote a poem also in memory of his father called, “my father moved through dooms of love.”
Marriage to Anne Minnerly Barton
Cummings married her second wife, Anne Minnerly Barton in May 1, 1929. However, they
separated three years later. In 1932, Anne acquired a Mexican divorce but it wasn’t
acknowledged in the United States until 1934.
Love Affair with Marion Morehouse
Cummings met the fashion model and photographer Marion Morehouse in 1932. They lived
together under informal marriage until Cummings died.
Peak of Success
In the late 1950s, Cummings published another collection entitled Poems1923-1954 with a
whole new style that is revolutionary. It put off a lot of his readers because of his fierce
World Literature 8
individuality and extreme self-centeredness. There he also emerged as a star on the college
lecture circuit that is the Charlie Eliot Norton Lectures.
Final Years
Cummings’ Alma Mater, Harvard University awarded him an honorary seat as a guest professor
in 1952. He gave out the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures in 1952 and 1955, and was called i: six
nonlectures.
Cummings made the most out of his life on his last decade by continuing travelling, accepting
speaking engagements, and having vacations at Silver Lake, New Hampshire, where he had a
summer house.
Death and Aftermath
He died of stroke on September 3 at the age of 67 in North Conway, New Hampshire at the
Memorial Hospital. His body was cremated and buried in Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory
in Boston.
In 1969, seven years later, his third wife Marion Morehouse died and was buried next to him.
Other unpublished works and papers are at Houghton Library at Harvard University and the
Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
World Literature 9
Political and Religious Views
Cummings was not interested with politics until his visit to the Soviet Union. It sparked his
dislike to the communism of the government. He was though a Republican, and a supporter of
Joseph McCarthy.
Edward was born in an Unitarianism family, which played a big role to the ideology he
developed afterwards. He later described his spiritual relationship with God as an “I, Thou”
relationship, which later reflected on his writings and personal journals.
Writing Style
Cummings was known for his avant-garde style in writing. He had no regards of the
conventional grammar and syntax, which was found by a lot of his critic as very immature and
unprofessional. However, his themes were surprisingly traditional. His poems are mostly
sonnets, but a modern twist and satirical remarks. He dwelt also on the theme of love and nature,
as well as the relationship of the individuals with the society.
World Literature 10
A lot of his poems and works are not punctuated accordingly, with inappropriate non-capitalizing
of the supposed words, combining words to produce his own meaning or a hidden meaning, and
more intentional typographical errors.
Though his works appear to be on free verse, many scholars believe that they were sonnets with
complicated rhyme schemes.
Themes and Motifs
He was deeply influenced by Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell. When he was in
Paris, he was introduced to the works of Dada and the concept of surrealism, which later on
reflected on his works. He seldom used simile, and prefers metaphors in incorporating symbols
and imageries in his poems.
Cummings’ transcendentalism with his ideology made so many rejections with publishers. He
was obscure, and publishers and editors don’t trust that it will sell. Because of that, Cummings
had to shoulder the expenses of publishing independently.
Behind ee cummings
The initials of Cummings written in lowercase on the spines and covers of some of his books
started in 1960s. A critic who wrote a biography on his life, Harry Moore said that Cummings
World Literature 11
intentionally put his name as such in his books. His third wife Marion Morehouse disagreed on
this, and told that Harry Moore should stop “a stupid and childish statement about Cummings
and his signature.” Scholars believe however, that Cummings sometimes signed in lowercase as
“a gesture of humility” and not something more profound than that.
Awards:
Dial Award (1925)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1933)
Shelley Memorial Award for Poetry (1944)
Harriet Monroe Prize from Poetry magazine (1950)
Fellowship of American Academy of Poets (1950)
Guggenheim Fellowship (1951)
Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard (1952–1953)
Special citation from the National Book Award Committee for his Poems, 1923–1954 (1957)
Bollingen Prize in Poetry (1958)
Boston Arts Festival Award (1957)
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Two-year Ford Foundation grant of $15,000 (1959)
Works of EE Cummings
The Enormous Room (1922)
Tulips and Chimneys (1923)
Tulips & Chimneys (1925) (self-published)
XLI Poems (1925)
is 5 (1926)
HIM (1927) (a play)
ViVa (1931)
EIMI (1933) (Soviet travelogue)
No Thanks (1935)
Collected Poems (1960)
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50 Poems (1940)
1 × 1 (1944)
XAIPE: Seventy-One Poems (1950)
i—six nonlectures (1953) Harvard University Press
Poems, 1923–1954 (1954)
95 Poems (1958)
73 Poems (1963) (posthumous)
Fairy Tales (1965) (posthumous)
Conclusion:
Edward Estlin Cummings, or EE Cummings, the name most people know. He is a well-known
writer from the 1900s. His most famous writings were from 1922 – 1958.
He was introduced to literature by his mother. At the age of eight, he already began writing
poems. Belonging in a well-off family, he was able to receive his education at Harvard
University and hone his writing skills.
Cummings’ life that had many unwanted situations inspired him to write his beautiful poems.
His writing style, which he developed at Harvard, was new to the eyes of his generation. The
uniqueness and unusual style of his works made his way in the peak of success. Though he was
criticized by the way he writes but still his readers’ find the value of the mystical and
revolutionary forms of his works. His linguistic inventiveness that manipulates the traditional
form of writing marks his legacy in literature.
World Literature 14
He was a poet who, despite all the adversity continued doing his service to the world by his
literature. His poems have inspired many hearts to writing, until today.
Bibliography:
Encyclopedia of World biographies, EE Cummings Biography
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Co-Da/Cummings-E-E.html#b
Friedman, N., E. E. Cummings: The Growth of a Writer. Carbondale: Southern Illinois
University Press, 1964.
Kennedy, R., Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E. E. Cummings. New York: Liveright,
1980.
Marks, B., E. E. Cumming, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964.
Norman, C., E. E. Cummings: The Magic-Maker. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1958.
Laucanno, C. ; EE Cummings: A Biography
World Literature 15
(source of the blog post written by Jonathan Yardley)
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, E. E. Cummings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings
Yardley, J. (2004), Washington Post “EE Cummings: A Biography”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34132-2004Oct14.html