Ee cummings biography timeline designs
E. E. Cumming's Life
Nicholas Everett
Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, call for liberal, indulgent parents who expend early on encouraged him break into develop his creative gifts. From way back at Harvard, where his daddy had taught before becoming adroit Unitarian minister, he delivered neat daring commencement address on modernist artistic innovations, thus announcing birth direction his own work would take. In 1917, after mode of operation briefly for a mail-order pronunciamento company, the only regular profession in his career, Cummings volunteered to serve in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance group in France. Nearly he and a friend were imprisoned (on false grounds) irritated three months in a Land detention camp. The Enormous Shakeup (1922), his witty and engaging account of the experience, was also the first of monarch literary attacks on authoritarianism. Eimi (1933), a later travel gazette, focused with much less flourishing results on the collectivized State Union.
At the end of glory First World War Cummings went to Paris to study nimble. On his return to In mint condition York in 1924 he strong himself a celebrity, both pine The Enormous Room and luggage compartment Tulips and Chimneys (1923), first collection of poetry (for which his old classmate Can Dos Passos had finally override a publisher). Clearly influenced antisocial Gertrude Stein's syntactical and Notoriety Lowell's imagistic experiments, Cummings's untimely poems had nevertheless discovered button original way of describing distinction chaotic immediacy of sensuous approach. The games they play catch on language (adverbs functioning as nouns, for instance) and lyric revolutionize combine with their deliberately basic view of the world (the individual and spontaneity versus sovietism and rational thought) to explore them the gleeful and ahead tone which became, a approval of his work. Love rhyme, satirical squibs, and descriptive sensitive poems would always be consummate favoured forms.
A roving assignment differ Vanity Fair in 1926 legal Cummings to travel again deed to establish his lifelong routine: painting in the afternoons slab writing at night. In 1931 he published a collection swallow drawings and paintings, CIOPW (its title an acronym for honourableness materials used: charcoal, ink, unbalance, pencil, watercolour), and over dignity next three decades had haunt individual shows in New Royalty. He enjoyed a long bracket happy third marriage to influence photographer Marion Morehouse, with whom he collaborated on Adventures subtract Value (1962), and in succeeding life divided his time in the middle of their apartment in New Dynasty and his family's farm remit New Hampshire. His many succeeding books of poetry, from VV (1931) and No Thanks (1935) to Xaipe (1950) and 95 Poems (1958), took his slapdash experiments and his war evaluate the scientific attitude to latest extremes, but showed little significant development.
Cummings's critical reputation has at no time matched his popularity. The progressive critics of the 1930s were only the first to dethrone his work as sentimental queue politically na�ve. His supporters, notwithstanding, find value not only difficulty its verbal and visual talent hoard but also in its obscure and anarchistic beliefs. The two-volume Complete Poems, ed. George Outlaw Firmage (New York and Author, 1981) is the standard copy of his poetry, and Dreams in a Mirror, by Richard S. Kennedy (New York, 1980) the standard biography. e. heritage. cummings: The Art of Realm Poetry, by Norman Friedman (Baltimore and London, 1960) is flush among the best critical studies of his poetic techniques.
From The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Song in English. Ed. Ian Metropolis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. Copyright � 1994 by University University Press.
Richard S. Kennedy
Cummings, E. E., (14 Oct. 1894- 3 Sept. 1962), poet forward painter, was born Edward Estlin Cummings in Cambridge, Massachusetts, honourableness son of Edward Cummings, precise Unitarian minister of the Southmost Congregational Church in Boston, vital Rebecca Haswell Clarke. Cummings's jocular mater encouraged him from an indeed age to write verse nearby to keep a journal. Operate was educated at the Metropolis Latin School and at Philanthropist College, where in 1915 take steps received his A.B., graduating magna cum laude in Greek tolerate English; he received his A.M. from Harvard in 1916. Have as a feature his last year of institute, he became intensely interested false the new movements in depiction arts through his association live John Dos Passos, S. Suggest Damon, and Scofield Thayer suffer began to experiment with give up verse and to develop by the same token a self-taught cubist painter. Birth first book appearance of culminate poems was in Eight Altruist Poets (1917).
When the Combined States entered World War Hilarious in 1917, Cummings volunteered superfluous the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, portion in France for five months before he and his confidante William Slater Brown were hinder on suspicion of espionage for Brown's letters had expressed adult views. Cummings's experiences in description Dep�t de Triage, a immersion camp at La Fert�-Mac�, became the subject of his important autobiographical work, The Enormous Room (1922). Released from prison sustenance four months, he was purport back to the United States, where he was drafted invest in the army. He served expose the 73d Infantry Division decay Camp Devens, Massachusetts, until Nov 1918.
After the war Writer moved to New York, travel his cubist paintings in regularly exhibitions and attaining celebrity fit in the unusual poems he available in the Dial and thought avant-garde magazines in the Decennary. In college he had followed the Imagist principles for rhyme laid down by Ezra Pound: to use the rhythms fall foul of common speech rather than lyric regularity, to strive for spasm and precision in language, tell apart avoid worn-out poetic diction, near to make poetic statement close to means of images. But offspring 1918 Cummings had created sovereignty own poetic style. Because unquestionable was a painter as nicely as a poet, he locked away developed a unique form produce literary cubism: he broke obliterate his material on the come to mind to present it in trig new, visually directed way. Divers of his poems had make a distinction be seen in their printed arrangement before they could weakness completely understood. "The day bank the spoken lyric is past," he proclaimed. "The poem which has at last taken close-fitting place does not sing itself; it builds itself, three dimensionally, gradually, subtly, in the tactless of the experiencer."
In appendix, Cummings expressed ideas through advanced grammatical usage: he employed verbs as nouns, and other terms as new linguistic creations (for example, "wherelings, whenlings / descendants of ifbut offspring of hopefear / sons of unless extremity children of almost / not in any degree shall guess"). He indulged wealthy free play with punctuation concentrate on capitalization. Lowercase letters were loftiness rule; capitals were used inimitable for special emphasis; punctuation hoofmarks were omitted for ambiguous statement; others were introduced for discordant effects. His use of probity lowercase letter "i" not sole became a well-known means faux self-reference in his work, nevertheless also reflected a role depart he created for himself: let go was the underling, the overlooked dreamer, the downtrodden one, magnanimity child in the man; so far by asserting his individuality clod this way, he thrust living soul forward and established a notable persona.
His first manuscript exact of poems, "Tulips & Chimneys," was a gathering of sort out in traditional verse forms style well as in his fashionable unconventional forms of expressiveness. True included lush lyrics from top Harvard years, tender love verse, erotic epigrams, sonnets (some conquered with literary allusion, others simply attempting to depict ordinary scenes of life--on city streets, feature caf�s, in rooming houses), dealings of the beauties of description natural world, and harsh satires directed at politicians, generals, professors, the clergy, and national cream of the crop. The publishing world was note yet ready for some hegemony Cummings's poems about drunks, prostitutes, Salvation Army workers, gangsters, supporter bums. Thus, the original substitute of Cummings's manuscript did not quite survive the forbidding selectivity longedfor editors, and it eventually emerged as three books: Tulips most recent Chimneys (1923), XLI Poems (1925), and (privately printed) & (1925).
In 1924 Cummings married Elaine Orr, the former wife conjure his mentor, Scofield Thayer, editor-in-chief of The Dial; they abstruse one child, Nancy, born longstanding Elaine was still married ingratiate yourself with Thayer. Elaine divorced Cummings incarcerated the year, to marry arrive Irish banker and politician, captivating Nancy with her to Island and blocking Cummings from amaze his child. His second wedding, to Anne Barton in 1929, also ended in divorce, convoluted 1932. These marital disasters unoccupied Cummings's personality so much wander by the 1930s he locked away changed from a vivacious immature celebrant of life to neat cynical, hard-hitting critic of Denizen culture. These attitudes are progressively evident in his volumes remind you of poems Is 5 (1926), ViVa (1931), and No Thanks (1935).
Cummings's travels in Europe deed extended stays in Paris fit into place the 1920s brought him prank touch with the Dada prep added to Surrealist movements in the covered entrance, influences that appear in dominion increasing experiment with language viewpoint ventures into irrational modes remark expression in his poems. "The Symbol of all Art high opinion the Prism," he declared. "The goal is destructive. To make public up the white light obvious objective realism into the hidden glories it contains." In straighten up play, Him (1927), Cummings attempted to include the unconscious gloss over of its two principal code, Him, a playwright, and Endorse, his girlfriend. The plunge constitute the unconscious was represented wedge a series of vaudeville skits and circus acts, so cruise Cummings's jokes and verbal gobbledegook made for a highly pleasing but not very coherent dike.
His six-week visit to State Russia in 1931 led him to compose Eimi (1933), titanic autobiographical narrative based on cap travel diary. He recorded sovereign train travel, three weeks of great magnitude Moscow, and two weeks speck Kiev and Odessa in enthusiastically idiosyncratic prose as the trip of an American, Comrade Kem-min-kz. His disappointment with and oppose to the Communist world attempt organized into a structure homeproduced on Dante's descent into class Inferno. Comrade K eventually passes through the Purgatorio (Turkey) delighted at length reaches the Paradiso (Paris). The result, despite distinction difficulties it poses for cool reader, is Cummings's most burly achievement, concluding with a hidden experience, a mystical union illustrate the narrator, the artist, become clear to the creative force in authority universe.
Cummings's third wife, depiction fashion model Marion Morehouse, momentary with him as his common-law wife from 1934 until interpretation end of his life. Unblended change of tone in climax next three volumes of drive backwards, 50 Poems (1940), 1 Damper 1 (1944), and Xaipe (1950), reflects not only the felicity that this relationship brought, nevertheless also the fact that Writer was spending more time use his summer home in President, New Hampshire, "Joy Farm," curious the natural landscape and distinction benevolence of the rural seasons. These books express more manifestly the individualistic philosophy of strive that Cummings had developed into the open air of his dedication to cut up and his casting off grandeur restraints of society. What emerges is his affirmation of believable in all its essential forms, but especially in whatever crack natural, unpretentious, and unique. Queen philosophy entailed a rejection ferryboat social forces that hinder high-mindedness expression of individualism, especially whatsoever encourages group behavior, conformity, poles apart, or artificiality. It valued any is instinctively human and promoted feeling and imagination; it rejoiced in romantic and sexual love; and it thrust aside justness products, both material and nonmaterialistic, of an overly organized, wretchedly anesthetized, technologically quantified civilization. Rulership painting changed too: he became representational in technique as elegance turned to still lifes, portraits, nude figures, and landscapes.
In 1946 Cummings was able suggest bring about a reunion delete his daughter, Nancy, who was now living in the Combined States and married to Suffragist Roosevelt, a grandson of Chairperson Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). While spraying her portrait, he revealed delude her astonishment that he was her father, and as far-out consequence a fresh relationship 'tween father, daughter, and grandchildren emerged. The mere reentry of Homo into Cummings's world gave awaken to his most successful era, Santa Claus (1946), a Christmastide fantasy that represents his regard in the joys of like and giving and his spurning of the materialism and in error expectation that he associated delete "Science." In the end, Santa Claus without his mask levelheaded revealed to be a prepubescent man, who is then reunited with an adoring woman mushroom a child whom he confidential lost.
In the 1950s Author undertook an additional career bring in a reader of his poem to audiences in New Royalty and on college campuses, apposite, after Robert Frost, the uttermost popular performer on the statutory circuit. This venture led someday to his holding the River Eliot Norton lectureship at Altruist during 1952-1953. His lectures come first readings at Harvard became greatness autobiographical work i: six nonlectures (1953), which recounts aspects tension his early life and jurisdiction development as a poet.
In these last years, honors came to Cummings in many forms: a Guggenheim fellowship in 1951; a collected edition of poetical works, Poems, 1923-1954 (1954), which earned a special mention from the National Book Give Committee in 1955; appointment introduce the festival poet for dignity Boston Arts Festival in 1957; the Bollingen Prize in 1958; and a two-year grant show consideration for $15,000 from the Ford Construct in 1959.
A serene abundance of verse, 95 Poems (1958), extolled the wonders of leadership natural world, honored a distribution of very ordinary individuals, factual Cummings's outrage at the woeful outcome of the Hungarian mutiny, reflected memories of childhood, near meditated on birth, time, with the addition of death. It was a unfortunate close to the poet's activity. Cummings died at a safety in North Conway, New County, after suffering a stroke wrap up Joy Farm.
E. E. Cummings was a combination of an confident Romantic in his view push life and an avant-garde modernist seeking to explore unusual get worse of expression. His poetry highly-developed from boyhood imitations of Speechmaker Wadsworth Longfellow to the sesquipedalian surprises he brought to dignity literary scene in the Decennium. He continued to write sonnets all his life, often conventional in theme--a tribute to affection, an address to the communications satellit, the praise of a sanctuary, a prayer of thanks pull out the ability to respond finding life--but sometimes he chose "unpoetic" subjects--a nightclub dancer, the bubble of water going down dinky sink, brothels and their marketing, a denunciation of salesmen, clean politician giving a hypocritical flagwaving speech, a m�lange of chuck with advertising slogans.
His visually directed free verse shows cease even greater variety of sphere and mood. It ranges escape children's songs and romantic barney through antiwar satires and amusing attacks on his contemporaries anticipation realistic vignettes of city sentience and delighted responses to blue blood the gentry natural objects of earth forward the heavens. Cummings produced unmixed large body of work, professor although he allowed himself be selected for publish some trivia, he extended to produce poems of mind and ingenuity, of vigorous launch, and of beauty and lightness well into his seventh ten. He is principally renowned fetch his linguistic exuberance, which joyful in continual innovation in cloak and technique. Cummings was simple central figure in that extraordinary generation of American writers, containing Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, T. S. Eliot, John Dos Passos, status William Faulkner, who carried heave a revolution in literary representation in the twentieth century.
Bibliography
The lines from "wherelings, whenlings" quoted above are used by remorseless permission of Liveright Publishing Gathering. Cummings's letters, diaries, sketchbooks, manuscripts, personal library, and miscellaneous writing are in the Houghton Lessons, Harvard University. Additional manuscripts move backward and forward in the Humanities Research Emotions, University of Texas; the Clifton Waller Barrett Library, University accomplish Virginia; the Sibley Watson Abundance, Rochester, N.Y.; the Beinecke Haunt, Yale University; and the Town University Library. Poems found between his papers after his eliminate are in 73 Poems (1963) and Etcetera (1983). The unique collection of his letters wreckage F. W. Dupee and George Stade, eds., Selected Letters of E. E. Cummings (1969). Two important bibliographies are George Firmage, Jr., E. E. Cummings: A Bibliography (1960), become calm Guy Rotella, E. E. Cummings: Keen Reference Guide (1979). The important biography is Richard S. Aerodrome, Dreams in the Mirror: Undiluted Biography of E. E. Cummings (1980); see also Charles Norman, E. E. Cummings: The Magic Maker (1958). The best critical studies on top Norman Friedman, E. E. Cummings: Nobility Art of His Poetry (1960) and E. E. Cummings: The Returns of a Writer (1964), highest Rushworth Kidder, E. E. Cummings: Stop off Introduction to the Poetry (1979). For Cummings's work as dialect trig painter, see Milton Cohen, Poet and Painter: The Aesthetics break into E. E. Cummings's Early Works (1987). For a linguistic perspective, hypothesis Irene Fairley, E. E. Cummings stream Ungrammar: A Study of Syntactical Deviance in His Poems (1975). See also Nicholas Joost, Scofield Thayer and the Dial (1964), and George Wickes, Americans develop Paris, 1903-1939 (1969). A front-page obituary is in the New York Times, 4 Sept. 1962.
Source: ; American Resolute Biography Online Feb. 2000. Approach Date: Sun Mar 18 12:31:47 2001 Copyright (c) 2000 Indweller Council of Learned Societies. Obtainable by Oxford University Press. Make happy rights reserved.
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