‘Nobody loses all the time’ – EE Cummings
Biographical information:
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts Oct 14 1984
Studied at Harvard
Modernist poet – inspired by Cubism and Picasso
- Fragmented, disorientating. View of reality that requires active engagement to
derive meaning.
- Experimental, breaking rule, non-conformists
- Satirises society, individuality
Style: A chance for open interpretation
He wrote a poem a day between ages of 8-22
Poetry = process not product
Meaning/message:
A slice of life most ordinary.
- Comic hero
Darkly humours anecdote/vignette (scene/scenario)
This is a bizarre slice of life.
Structure:
Complete irregularity
Free form
Chance for open interpretation NB content and structure
Syntax is completely irregular
Tone:
Macabre: very dark
Tongue-in-cheek
Satirical
i had an uncle named
, Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle
Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added
my Uncle Sol’s farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when
my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died and so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
skunks in a subtle manner
or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who’d given my Uncle Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scrumptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and
i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol’s coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol
and started a worm farm)
Analysis
Biographical information:
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts Oct 14 1984
Studied at Harvard
Modernist poet – inspired by Cubism and Picasso
- Fragmented, disorientating. View of reality that requires active engagement to
derive meaning.
- Experimental, breaking rule, non-conformists
- Satirises society, individuality
Style: A chance for open interpretation
He wrote a poem a day between ages of 8-22
Poetry = process not product
Meaning/message:
A slice of life most ordinary.
- Comic hero
Darkly humours anecdote/vignette (scene/scenario)
This is a bizarre slice of life.
Structure:
Complete irregularity
Free form
Chance for open interpretation NB content and structure
Syntax is completely irregular
Tone:
Macabre: very dark
Tongue-in-cheek
Satirical
i had an uncle named
, Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle
Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added
my Uncle Sol’s farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when
my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died and so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
skunks in a subtle manner
or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who’d given my Uncle Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scrumptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and
i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol’s coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol
and started a worm farm)
Analysis
