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E.E Cummings • 1894-1962
By Taylor-Mae Atkinson
The history behind E.E Cummings:• In April of 1917, with the First World War raging in Europe and the United States
not yet involved, he volunteered for the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Service in France.• Ambulance work was a popular choice with those who, like Cummings, were
pacifists. • He was stationed on the French-German border, with fellow American William
Slater Brown, and the two young men became fast friends.• To relieve the boredom of their assignment, they inserted veiled and provocative
comments into their letters back home, trying to outwit and baffle the French censors. • Such activities resulted in them being held on suspicion of treason and sent to an
internment camp in Normandy for questioning, in September of 1917.
• In July of 1918, with the United States entering the war, Cummings was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent six months at a training camp in Massachusetts. • Upon leaving the army in January of 1919, Cummings resumed his
affair with Elaine Thayer, the wife of his friend Schofield Thayer. Thayer knew and approved of the relationship.• Also, because Cummings was a painter and an artist, one of his main
aims when writing his poetry was that it had ‘visual effectiveness’, he wanted people to be able to ‘see’ his poetry.
my sweet old etceteraaunt lucy during the recentwar could and whatis more did tell you justwhat everybody was fightingfor,my sisterisabel created hundreds(andhundreds) of socks not tomention shirts fleaproof earwarmersetcetera wristers etcetera, mymother hoped thati would die etceterabravely of course my father usedto become hoarse talking about how it wasa privilege and if only hecould meanwhile myself etcetera lay quietlyin the deep mud etcetera(dreaming,etcetera, ofYour smileeyes knees and of your Etcetera)
• It appears as though when discussing each individual family member, for example: Aunt Lucy, sister Isabelle, his mother and father a new stanza is started.
• This works well as it creates a sense of detachment between those at War and the family members back on the home front, hence the stanza’s representing this wedge that the War caused between loved ones.
• The stray enjambment and lack of punctuation acts to really increase the pace at which the poem is read aloud.
• This could illustrate how E.E. Cummings is possibly frantic, or even rushing to express these thoughts that he has of the War.
• It is as though his thoughts have been building up over a period of time and he Is just reeling out all of his thoughts.
Continuous repetition of ‘etcetera’ is very ambiguous, can be interpreted differently depending on the reader.
my sweet old etceteraaunt lucy during the recentwar could and whatis more did tell you justwhat everybody was fightingfor,
All lowercase letters could act to reflect the idea that so many hundreds of soldiers believed the War to be futile, but despite their opinions, the were still not heard. Hence the lowercase letters may portray the insignificance of soldiers own opinions during the time of War.
Names of the people are not capitalised- could act to reinforce the lack of significance to those on the home front.
It appears that the soldier is referring to his ‘aunt lucy’ as being able to provide justification as to the War they were fighting, however to me as a reader this doesn’t make sense as she is not fighting the War and therefore is unable to realise the sheer extremity of the War.
It could also be interpreted that E.E Cummings may be using the repetition of ‘etcetera’ as a way to denote his thoughts, but also he may be using this word because revisiting the memories of the War may be too painful for him.
Under the illusion of the War, it is not what she believes it to be. In fact she would never be able to understand or even imagine the sheer horror of the War
my sisterisabel created hundreds(andhundreds) of socks not tomention shirts fleaproof earwarmersetcetera wristers etcetera,
‘my sister’ on a single line, appears as though it is isolated from the rest of the poem, highlights the idea of the isolation that a soldier on the frontline may be feeling.
‘(and hundreds)’ E.E Cummings has used the repetition of ‘hundreds’ to reflect that despite how many pairs of socks that his sister made, the amount of socks was never enough for the demand needed by thousands of soldiers.
It is quite ironic that the earwarmers are ‘fleaproof’ because the soldiers clothes tended to be in infested with fleas.
Again, the use of irony because a common illness of the soldiers, was that they often suffered significantly with ulcerated feet and gangrene. This was due to the fact that their boots and socks were often saturated through with water for endless periods of time.
mymother hoped thati would die etceterabravely of course my father usedto become hoarse talking about how it wasa privilege
The repetition of ‘etcetera’ proves to be of extreme importance as it acts to give a sense of emptiness about the poem- it gives me as a reader the impression that something is missing, he is not saying everything that he wishes to express.
It is important that ‘i’ is in lowercase, this could act to reinforce the insignificance of the soldiers and how one death was just one of millions. The idea of loss of identity for the soldiers, they became recognised as this one entity rather than the single individuals that they entered the War as.
This lack of certainty, once a son left for the War the mothers could only ‘hope’ that they returned or ‘hope’ that they were brave.
This idea of the soldiers dying ‘bravely’ is regarded to as a common theme, a mother would not wish to hear that her own son had died in the War as a result of cowardice. This can be compared to ’The Hero‘ by Sassoon as despite the fact that the soldier that died was in fact a ‘useless swine’ the officer reporting his death had lied and pretended to the mother that he died bravely.
The father appears to be so preoccupied and enthusiastic talking about the War, that he becomes ‘hoarse’ however he did not know the grim realities- similarly to many of the fathers of young soldiers during World War One.
It is as though to ‘die’ at War is an honour.
The ‘etcetera’ here it appears to create a pause, and this could represent the pain and void that is left in your life after somebody close to you dies.
and if only hecould meanwhile myself etcetera lay quietlyin the deep mud etcetera
Takes quite a pleading tone, it is though the E.E. Cummings, similarly to the majority of soldiers of World War I would have only wished that those back home would understand the grim realities of the War.
The adjective ‘quietly’ proves to be of significance as it makes reference to the senses and enables you as the reader to realise that the soldier did not scream or shout for help, he would just simply ‘lay quietly’ and this contrasts greatly with the chaos and conflicting environment of War.
Could illustrate that whilst he is physically trapped in the ‘deep mud’, the War itself has trapped him mentally.
Appears that his father is clearly completely oblivious to the harsh realities of War. ‘If only’ he really knew what went on.
(dreaming,etcetera, ofYour smileeyes knees and of your Etcetera)
Notice that the last word ‘Etcetera’ is one of the two only capitalised words out of the entire poem, this could act to reflect the importance of this thing to him (possibly the physical aspects of a women). The listing of the various aspects of the body for example the: ‘smile’ ‘eyes’, ‘knees’ evokes the last ‘etcetera’ to be determined by us.
‘Your’ is the first word capitalised out of the entire poem, this just illustrates the significance that this female has in his life. Indicates that he is referring specifically to the women that he loves.
‘dreaming’ acts as a form of escapism for the soldier, he is able to think of this women’s ‘smile’ and ‘eyes’ whilst he is asleep.
Cummings writes well, as he reflects a realistic portrayal of emotions the majority of the young men sent into a War of which they did not particularly know what they were fighting for. Hence why the thought of their lovers back home preoccupied their minds.
The structure here: the lines lose all sense of organisation, which could best aim to reflect the unplanned thought processes of Cummings.
Brackets could act to illustrate how the soldier may be quite secretive of talking about such things.
