Analysis: A Recurring Theme In E. Cummings Poetry

A Recurring Theme in E. E. Cummings’ Poetry

Cummings has been married three times and none of them have ever worked out but he still keep trying to find someone that will love him. The poems are “l(a”, “anyone lived in a pretty how town” , and “Thy fingers mark early flowers.” E. E. Cummings’ poetry focuses on his desire for physical intimacy and affection because he lacked both in his life. Cummings writes many poems about his want for physical intimacy and affection. This is brought up many times in his poems which means that it was something on his mind frequently. Some of Cummings’ poems can be very complex but still have to do with the main idea of wanting love. The major reason Cummings writes so much about his need for passion and devotion

Landles states in "An Analysis of Two Poems" that, the poem is about the feeling someone gets when watching a leaf fall and describing loneliness to be like a leaf falling. He also mentions that the way the poem is set up almost looks like the motion of a leaf falling (landles). The letters are separated into small groups and almost looks like they are falling down the page. Furthermore he suggests that, when the readers thinks of falling leaves, they sometimes think of Autumn and associate that with the end of the year or even death (Landles). Additionally, the poem has either the letter “l” or the number “1,” but the reader could not tell which one Cummings meant because years ago when people used typewriters the key for both was the same. For instance, if Cummings meant this to be the number 1, it would make more sense because he was just trying to get the point across that he was lonely and on his

It also mentions, “anyone died” and noone stooped to kiss his face.” After that it goes on to say, “busy folk buried them side by side,” meaning that they died together. Mark from E. E. Cummings comments, “the example of ‘anyone’ and ‘noone’ [shows that] their lives are empty and meaningless as the mechanical ‘dong and ding’ of the clock.” Which shows that Cummings’ life was very dull and nothing really happened in his love life that made him happy. In the poem is states, “one day anyone died i guess”...using an uncapitalized ‘i,’that his strangely detached attitude reflects his own sense of...the overriding importance of love.” Marks from E. E. Cummings states, “Anyone and noone are lovers.” Cowley points out that in the poem it says, “noone loved him more by more,” and by noone he is talking about his wife. He also notes that “Cummings was happily married for thirty years...but the word ‘wife’ appears in none[ of his poems]” (Cowley). Clark suggests that, Cummings was “unloved” by the town; but this only made him want her even more.

The poem “Thy Fingers Make Early Flowers” is about beauty and love. The girl that the speaker mentions in the poem, he thinks that she is perfect. The poem briefly states different parts of the girl (fingers, lips, hair, feet, eyes). In the poem the words always and death are capitalized to make them stand out. In every stanza the words “though love be a day,”