Word Play with E. E. Cummings: 50 Poems

If art is where form meets meaning, E. E. Cummings is a master of the aesthetic. 50 Poems is a collection that showcases Cummings’ skills at their finest: his defiance of grammatical rules to express ideas, his use of literary techniques like alliteration, and his linking of abstract ideas to descriptions of material objects. Cummings once said, “If poetry is your goal, you’ve got… to remember one thing only: that it’s you- nobody else- who determine your destiny and decide your fate.” 50 Poems shows that Cummings his unique literary style and voice.

One of the major characteristics of 50 Poems, as well as the rest of Cummings’ work, is the fragmentation of images and descriptions that pervade modernist literature in the aftermath of World War I. Cummings’ poetry mirrors the perception that the world itself has been fractured and needs to be put back together.  Thus, many of the poems in 50 Poems even seem to end abruptly, as if ending in the middle. While upon first reading this may seem like Cummings forgot to complete the poem, the lack of completion gives these poems their vibrant meaning. That is, it is precisely the unfinished nature of this historical moment, as well as its grappling towards healing from the past, that is expressed through these fragmented poems.

Cummings also uses fragmentation as a literary device, however, to essentially act out whatever the poems convey. For instance, the poem “mortals)” describes the process of establishing personal identity and finding immortality. The poem begins with “mortals)” and ends with “(im,” thereby reversing the order of parenthesis and suggesting a reversal of the traditional chronology of the poetic form. It also, of course, reverses the meaning; by virtue of the poem, that which is “mortal” becomes “immortal.” In this way, with the dissolving of the poem’s start and finish, the poem itself becomes immortal in its defiance of chronology.

Another literary device Cummings uses is the linking of abstract concepts to material descriptions. In “wherelings whenlings,” for instance, Cummings personifies the uncertainty inherent in the future by associating this uncertainty with children. While such a juxtaposition may seem illogical at first, “wherelings whenlings” shows the connection between life and chronology, and, in this way, how human imagination relates to the possibilities the future holds. Like “mortals),” “wherelings whenlings” ends unconventionally. “wherelings whenlings” trails off, as if the possibilities the future holds cannot yet be identified or explained. In this sense, the poem allows the reader to imagine his or her own ending, and thus, it actively demonstrates the role of imagination in determining one’s future.          

All of Cummings’ poems are best read aloud to appreciate the rhythm and alliteration that only verbal recitation can demonstrate. While Cummings’ poetry can be challenging to understand, the brevity of this collection and the uniqueness of his poetic form make 50 Poems a must-read summer book.

--Ashley Young