“9” by E.E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings was a unique poet with an equally unique writing style. E.E. Cummings was born on October 14th, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1916, Cummings graduated with a master’s degree from Harvard University. During his studies, he was subject to many great writers such as Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound. After working for five months as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I, he was captured by French authorities. He was accused on accounts of espionage. After the war, he settled into a life in which he bounced around from houses in rural Connecticut and Greenwich Village. He also traveled through Europe meeting various poets and artists, including Pablo Picasso. During his life, Cummings won a
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In the way he conveys this, it’s clear that he feels time is moving very slowly. In the third stanza, “We do not wind it up, it has no weights, spring wheels inside of its slender self, no indeed dear nothing of the kind” (Cummings Web), Cummings creates vivid imagery. This shows that Cummings is relating how he has no use for a clock and doesn’t care for the principle of keeping time. He would rather live life time free, without having to worry about being on time or being late.
The third and final poetic device that shows up in the poem, “9”, is symbolism. To begin the poem Cummings uses symbolism. The number “9” refers to the number of times he uses the words, “tic-toc”, “toc-tic”, “tic-tic”, “toc”, and “tic”. Also, as seen in the fourth stanza, “So when kiss spring comes, we’ll kiss each kiss other on kiss the kiss lips because the tic clocks toc don’t make a toc-tic difference to kiss kiss you and to kiss me” (Cummings Web). Cummings uses the word “kiss” to complicate and clutter the verse. If you remove those words, he simply summarizes all of his thoughts in the last stanza. He says when spring comes; we can kiss because the clocks don’t make a difference to you and me. This symbolizes that Cummings can’t wait for the spring and summer months when the clocks don’t play a role in his life.
In conclusion, Cummings uses his poem “9” to relay his feeling to time. He feels that
“..the System includes the Situation, but it is more enduring, more widespread, involving extensive networks of people, their expectations, norms, policies, and, perhaps, laws. Over time, Systems come to have a historical foundation and sometimes also a political and economic power structure that governs and directs the behavior of many people within its sphere of influence. Systems are the engines that run situations that create behavioral contexts that influence the human action of those under their control. At some point, the System may become an autonomous entity, independent of those who initially started it or even those in apparent authority within its power structure. Each System
In the beginning of the poem we see the line “Time that is moved by little fidget wheels” conveying the meaning he was taken before his time. This refers to the chronological and systematic time of humanity in which is measured by minutes and hours, shown on clocks that are symbolised by bells. This concept of time is far more powerful with the use of personification as emphasised by the capitalisation.
Who is E.E. Cummings and why is his poetry different and strange than other poets?
Imagery is used throughout the poem to emphasize the finite time humans have on the earth, and how every second should be appreciated. Lines two and three are the speaker’s first use of imagery. Diction in line two illustrates the speaker’s recognition of the phenomena, which is snow in October. The phrase “But this morning” (line 2) highlights that the meaning is not a mundane morning. Most people would be agitated that winter came early, but the speaker seems to be grateful. Furthermore, the speaker describes the snow in a pleasant tone, seen in this line “pale muslin/ stretched across the grass” (line 2-3). This emphasizes that the speaker appricates the early
The second stanza tells about a “glorious lamp of heaven”, the sun, running a race from sunup to sundown (Herrick 385). In the third stanza it talks about when people are youthful they think they have all the time to accomplish their goals but “times still succeed the former”, which simply means time
Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894. Cummings was well-known as an American poet, playwright, novelist, and painter. He wrote approximately thousands of poems; a few novels; a few plays and several essays. His parents played an important role in shaping him into the great poet he is today. Although both his parents helped him throughout his life, his mother played the important role of encouraging him from an early age to write free verses and to keep many journals. He began writing poems as early as the 1900s and studied Latin and Greek at the Cambridge Latin High School. Cummings then went on to earn both his B.A. and his M.A. from Harvard University. Soon after he graduated, Cummings went on to serve in War world 1 overseas
EE Cummings was and is still one of the most well-regarded and unique poets of all time. His poems were unusual, but his strange way of writing is what grabbed people’s attention and made him so special. Many incidents in Cummings’ life affected his poetry, his experiences and his personality, which could clearly be observed in the poems he wrote. Cummings became such a well-known poet due to the effect of his life events on his poetry, his peculiar writing style and his strong connection with the topics of love and lust. The struggles and successes of his life developed his poetry in a huge manner.
The poem “since feeling is first” is written by E.E Cummings in a stanza form with a total number of 16 lines. The sentences carry no more than nine words and no less than four words. It is about a man expressing his love to his beloved women. Cummings use of literary devices such as; metaphor, personification, imagery and denotation to express his feelings. “Since feeling is first” is a romantic poem that teaches a lesson about life. Its use of literary devices make the poem appealing to the readers.
The poem and the song share similar qualities as in their subject. From birth to death is something that relatedly touches everyone. They also speak on how to embrace life’s changes and take on comes. Where Cummings could have used more tasteful phrasing such as time stood still, he instead to place in the seasons, “spring summer autumn winter”.
The major literary device that Cummings uses in the poem is the use of tone. Cummings chooses to use a cacophonous tone for this poem unlike the tone in which he used for the poem the sky was. The use of the cacophonous tone allows the reader to further grasp how much the process of change must hurt as it recalls memories of how the reader has undergone change in their life in addition to the harsh sound that emphasizes Cummings' theme.
Cummings” pg.13). Cummings continued to publish volumes of poetry at a rate of approximately one every four or five years (“E.E. Cummings pg.14). The last honor involved giving a series of public talks; published as i: six Nonlecture (1953), they provide a succinct and charming summation of his life and personal philosophy. Two years later he received a National Book Award citation for poems 1923-1954, and two years after that he won the prestigious bollingen prize in poetry from Yale University (“E.E. Cummings” pg.15). (In his poetry he often ignored the rules of capitalization and has sometimes been referred to as e.e. Cummings) expanded the boundaries of poetry through typographic and linguistic experimentation (Frazee, “E.E. Cummings). An avoidance of capital letters and creative placement of punctuation soon became his trademarks. His experimental poetry took many forms, some amusing, some satirical, some beautiful, some profound, and some which did not make much sense (Frazee “E.E. Cummings”). Typical stylistic devices in his work include: running words together; scattering punctuation symbols cross the page; subverting the conventions of the English sentence; intentional misspellings and phonetic spellings and the invention of compound words such as “puddle-wonderful” (“E.E. Cummings”). However, this obvious experimentation is often combined with strict formal structures and traditional
Edward Estlin Cummings is a famous poet and novelist. A true man of the arts, he also enjoyed playwrights, painting, and drawing. His lifetime lasting from 1894-1962 was vivaciously lived! He spent a large portion of his life in his birth state, Massachusetts, although certain life events lead him beyond the United States. Cummings served in the U.S. Army during World War I, and was a volunteer in an ambulance unit as well. A great portion of his life was also dedicated to his Harvard education and multiple romantic relationships. Despite these things that took up most of his time, Cummings managed to find time for his passion, writing. E.E. Cummings’ unique style of writing is attributed to his free spirit, which amounted to all of
E. E. Cummings's poem called "Spring is like a perhaps hand" explains the gradual season change from winter to spring. All through this poem, the structure and diction of this poem helps emphasize the gradual increments in which change occurs between the seasons and in people's lives. This also explains the theme that change is always occurring. In the third stanza, the speaker describes the movement of a "...fraction of flower here placing / an inch of air there..." (17-18). The gradual movement of everything like flowers and even air taking place over time is described here. The diction that the speaker uses, like the words "fraction" or "inch", emphasizes the minuscule scale and subtlety of change in life that can easily be unnoticed by
Aside from the connections and similarities both of these poems are actually quite different. In Cummings’ poem the time cycle such as, “spring summer autumn winter” (3). Has the effect that time goes by quickly and the little things almost are insignificant. Also in Cummings’ poem he had mentioned how children grew to forget, allowing for such interpretations like, once one grows up they loose who they once were. Where in Frost’s poem time slows down to make a choice that will alter one’s life. When he is deciding between the roads he has time to ponder and question his move having each movement being significant rather than insignificant. Also in Frost’s poem it is safe to assume that when making a choice one will use the knowledge and experiences they had as a child to make choices in the future allowing the reader to understand that one doesn’t simply loose who they once were, but one changes who they become through the choices they make.
At the same time, perhaps the clock could also be a literal clock and describing its height as “unearthly” an example of hyperbole. When the narrator examines the clock as it proclaims the time, he states that “the time was neither right nor wrong” (line 13). Through this diction, Frost creates a sense of ambiguity about the nature of time and the narrator’s feelings about his life choices. Concluding the poem with the line “I have been one acquainted with the night,” Frost indicates that understanding “the night” seems to be the poet’s destination on his