E.E. Cummings “what if a much of a which of a wind” “somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond”

E.E. Cummings 1894-1962 Edwin Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge , Massachusetts – son of a Unitarian minister Attended Harvard during the Imagist movement Allowed him to experiment and break old traditions in his writing Graduated from Harvard in the midst of WWI Volunteered before American involvement (ambulance corps) Arrested and imprisoned through a French censor – Intercepted one of his typographically odd letters – suspicion of espionage – Released three months later He drew on the above experience to produce his first book of prose The Enormous Room (1922) Prime example of rugged individualism Felt poetry was a question of individuality Altered conventional English syntax - made typography and the division of words part of the shape and meaning of a poem

E.E. Cummings After WWI, he returned to France Refined the eccentric shifts of syntax and typography that would soon become his trademark In 1923, he published his first collection of poetry, Tulips and Chimneys, followed by XLI Poems (1925), and is 5 (1926) His poetry is often marked by celebration of love, nature’s beauty, and an almost Transcendentalist affirmation of the individual He reserved his mischievous wit for satires meant for urban humans Died in the United States after spending his final time between an apartment in NYC and a lake house in New Hampshire