E. E. Cummings' reputation as America's pre-eminent avant-garde poet obscures his significant use of schemes and tropes in his traditional and free verse poems. Because of his influence as a sonneteer and lyricist, his poetics constitute an important facet of our modern definition of poetry. However, he did not formulate a coherent statement of his aesthetic theories. Therefore, inductive research is necessary to define "the necessary anything"--those elements which Cummings' practice indicates are essentially poetic.Cummings' traditional poems include his "Epithalamion," ballade-derivations, and a large body of sonnets. All of his sonnets are fourteen lines long; and most maintain line lengths of approximately ten syllables; follow rhyme schemes based on five, six, or seven rhymes; and adhere to traditional rhetorical patterns of development. Deviations from the prescribed scheme include experimental rhymes and rhyme schemes, metrical and rhetorical variations, and a wide variety of subjects and themes. Freedom to deviate from prescribed forms renders the choice to use traditional schemes and tropes significant. Cummings elects to use meter, rhyme, allusion, allegory, personification, metaphor, simile, irony, paradox, onomatopoeia, and economy in his sonnets and free verse.Besides esoteric typography and innovative syntax, half-rhyme and rhetorically significant rhyme and metrical patterns are his trademarks. Additionally, this study demonstrates that Cummings' typography is generally organic and that his aesthetic theories are grounded in the modern romantic movement. While innovation is primary in Cummings' poetics, traditional schemes and tropes are highly significant in the composition and artistic achievement of his poetry. In Cummings' poetry, "the necessary anything" is a product of his formal education in classical and contemporary literatures and his eccentric invention. / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179555 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Peterson, Raileen L. |
| Contributors | Trimmer, Joseph F. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 439 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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