E. E. Cummings(Edward Estlin Cummings)
... he used: charcoal, ink, oil, pencil, and watercolors) and had many individual show in New York over the next three decades. Over the next few years Cummings published many other books of poetry. He published VV in1931, Now Thanks in1935, Xaipe in 1950, and 95 Poems in 1958. In 1961, Cummings took a trip to Italy, Greece, and France. On 1962, E. E. Cummings collapsed of cerebral hemorrhage at Joy Farm and died on September 3rd at 1:15 a.m. E. E. Cummings was the center for a lot of criticism. Other writers criticized Cummings for his unique style of writing. Alfred Kazin says that the poet's style is "arrogant" and "slap stick" and that Cummings is "the duality of the traditionalist and the clown"(155). Others, such as Richard P. Blackmur, say his technique is an insult to the writing profession. He says that Cummings' poetry would only appeal to those with a "childish spirit"(140). It was Mark Van Doren, though, who probably said the truth about Cummings. "He has a richly sensuous mind; his verse is distinguished by fluidity and weight; he is equipped to range lustily and long among the major passions"(140) Through examples of his work, "from spiralling ecstatically this," Buffalo Bill's," "next to of course god america I," and "whippoorwill this," it can be shown that Cummings is a deliberate, inventive, and precise poet who uses his own, unique style. Style throughout Cummings work is usually difficult to piece together and the works' meanings are even harder to decipher, but they all conjure the reader to think. Cummings uses an assortment of tools for his style. In "from spiralling ecstatically this" Cummings uses imaginative new words and line breaks. Cummings creates the word "unmiracle". This word implies destruction of what has just taken place, the birth of a baby(90). "Perhapsless" is another new word, also of pessimistic connotations. Perhaps is a hopeful word, meaning there is a chance, "perhapsless" implies that failure is inevitable and that trying is futile. The line breaks of this poem were meant to emphasize the single lines of the poem. "[F]rom spiralling ecstatically this" suggests that one is going throughout life with no sense of direction or meaning. "[P]erhapsless mystery of paradise" implies that the afterlife is non existent. "[W]hose only secret all creation sings" is that the mother's "[l]ove provides the universal rhythm . . . despite man's attempt to change or stop the rhythm, it marks the limits on his destructive power" (Powers 237) and who knows what lies beyond. In "Buffalo Bill's" Cummings' style not only includes line breaks, but run on and joined words as well. “Buffalo Bill's defunct who used to ride a watersmooth-silver stallion and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat Jesus he was a handsome man and what i want to know is how do you like your blueeyed boy Mister Death” His line breaks and technique of separating words is a precise and deliberate method which causes the reader to think. Separating "defunct" by itself could also mean death (Dilworth 176). Using the word Jesus in a place by itself with a long space, indicating a pause, before and after it, indicate that it is not being used to describe Jesus Christ, but rather as an expression of amazement and awe, c...