E.E. Cummings: life, poetry, and artistic innovations

E.E. Cummings

Cummings

Cummings (Edward Estlin Cummings), the renowned American poet, was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is widely recognized for his poetry. His poetic sense is noted "for its eccentricities of typography, language, and punctuation, usually seeks to convey a joyful, living awareness of sex and love" ("Cummings, E.E."). Cummings is also known as a talented artist. Several one-man shows have been held for exhibiting the distinguished paintings and drawings of the great poet cum artist.

His Life in a Nutshell

Early Life

Cummings, at one occasion, said "I did not decide to become a poet -- I was always writing poetry" (as qtd in Reef 5).

It was his mother, Rebecca Cummings, who had encouraged his only son, Estlin, to write start writing poetry from a very early age. He was only three years old when Cummings came out with his first original poem that was:

"Oh my little birdie oh

With his little toe, toe, toe!" (as qtd. In Reef 5)

Cummings was not only inspired by his mother but also considered his father, Edward Cummings, as his role model. His father was the teacher of Sociology at the Harvard University, Cambridge who later became a Unitarian minister. In addition to this, he knew plumbing, construction, photography and painting. Due to his father's talents, Estlin also wanted to become a significant personality.

Education

In 1915, Cummings received his degree of Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University. He also got his poems published in the same year in Harvard Monthly and Harvard Advocate (Reef 17). Next year, the proficient poet attained his Master's degree (English and Classical Studies) from the Harvard University (Reef 23).

Career

Along with his Harvard friend, John Dos Passos, Cummings was selected in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in 1917 (Reef 30). However, Cummings was not provided any ambulance unit for 5 weeks due to some administrative blunders. This was the time when the poet fell deeply in love with the beautiful city of Paris. The military forces in France arrested the two friends after going through their letters to home in which they had fully expressed their views regarding anti-war. Though Cummings's father had connections to acquire his release, he was unsuccessful. Finally, President Wilson received Edward Cumming's letter and intervened to get Cummings and his friend released (Reef 37). It was in the prison that Cummings wrote his first novel "The Enormous Room" (Reef 55). Cummings continued to visit Paris afterwards. In 1926, a car accident took his father's life. This had a great impact on Cunnings life and he wrote "My Father Moved through Dooms of Love."

Personal Life

The famous writer had a love affair with one of his Harvard friend's wife, Elaine Orr. She became the mother of his only child, Nancy. They married when Elaine got divorce from her first husband, Scofield Thayer. The marriage lasted less than a year as Elaine met an Irish banker and fell in love with him. They divorced and she along with Nancy moved to Ireland. Cummings met Anne Minnerly Barton and married her in 1929 (Reef 67). However, the marriage didn't last long and in 1932, they separated. In the same year, Cummings met a fashion model and photographer, Marion Morehouse and fell in love. They remained together until Cumming's death. However, it is still not clear whether the couple married or not (Reef 90).