Modernism in EE Cummings' Poetry: Exploring Individualism, Experimentation and Absurdity - Essay Sample

Introduction

One of the authors used to represent the futuristic perspective is EE Cummings. The modernist’s view has several characteristics describing how it influences literature. The components include individualism, experimentation, and absurdity. Often, the choice of words, syntax, and formal structures deviate from the traditional structures. The current research aims at elaborating on the features of modernist literature and how they are related to EE Cummings poetry.

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One of the characteristics is individualism. Modernist perceive an individual to be appealing as compared to society. Modernists are more affiliated with how individuals are adapted to changes. The writers using the approach present the world as a challenge to the integrity of their character (DiSanto 17). Ernest Hemingway was one of the writers recognized for utilizing the method because of his vivid style. The actors used in most of Ernest Hemingway’s poems accepted their circumstances at face value and endured (DiSanto 20). EE Cummings can show individualism in poetry through visual poems. The poems use imagistic structures showing an individualistic approach. The persona represented in the poems shows adaptation to individual changes.

Another character of modernist literature is experimentation. The modernist literature writers have deviated from the old techniques and forms of writing. Most poets have abandoned the traditional rhyme schemes, and they have changed to using free verses (Linett 27). Writers using the approach have mixed past images with modern themes and languages. The mixture has helped in creating a collection of styles. The inner consciousness approach was common among the modernist writers. EE Cummings was a perfect representation of the experimental method with his form of writing and the use of syntax. Also, Cummings rejected the views of the intellectuals by using different perspectives in his poetry. Through his experimental approach and the use of syntax, Cumming created a contrast between real and actual worlds in the satirical and love poems. Most of the poems experiment on unusual phrasing. For instance, in “the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls,” EE Cummings called ladies “ugly” (Hussain and Saleem 15). Additionally, the writer uses ambiguous words such as “unbeautiful.” Also, the poems lack any kind of rhyme, meter, or the Stanza structure. The change in style shows his experimental approach in literature.

Another aspect used to represent futuristic literature is an absurdity. For most writers, the world has become an absurd place to live in (Linett 20). The mysteriousness of life was lost in the general rush hour of daily lives. Most modernist authors have shown absurdity in their work. Cummings uses the style to create awareness that it exists in daily lives. However, most of his work is unclear. Cumming’s use of language has become absurd, showing his intelligence with the use of words (Hussain and Saleem 159). The poet uses satire, and he challenges conventional ideas. The name mystery, according to the author, is the creation of an initiation. The secret of “who is love” is the source of growth of launches, rebirth, and death of self, as shown in his work (Hussain and Saleem 160). The love poems talk about the moments of renewal. The modern absurdist approach displayed by Cummings is similar to the effects experienced by authors belonging to the two world wars.

Conclusion

Overall, the characteristics of modernistic literature are elaborated in EE Cumming’s poetry. The choice of words, syntax, and lack of formal structures deviates from the traditional structures. The modernist approach uses a phrasing method that was unpredictable for the readers. The conventional rules of capitalization, punctuations are omitted in most of his work. Cumming uses unusual phrasing, and he breaks the standard rules of syntax, showing he was a modernist.

Works Cited

DiSanto, Michael John. “Modernism and Literature: An Introduction and Reader.” Joseph Conrad Today, vol. 42, no.2, 2017, pp. 16-18.

Hussain, Riaz, and Amjad Saleem. “Modernism and Postmodernism Foregrounded: A Stylistic Analysis of EE Cummings Poems.” Putaj Humanities & Social Sciences, vol. 24, no. 2, 2017, 159-170

Linett, Maren. Bodies of Modernism: Physical Disability in Transatlantic Modernist Literature. University of Michigan Press, 2017.