The Poetry and Prose of E.E. Cummings: A Study in Appreciation

by Robert E. Wegner

A detailed analysis of the poems in which Cummings employed unconventional punctuation and grammar is included in this study of the eccentric poet

Genres: Poetry

177 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1965

About the author

Robert was born on March l, 1929, to Ernst R. and Esther (Strebelow) Wegner in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Lakewood High School, Ohio, and went on for advanced studies at Michigan State University (B.A.), the University of Iowa Writing Program, and Case Western Reserve University (M.A. and Ph.D) in English. His early full-length critical study, The Poetry and Prose of E.E. Cummings (Harcourt, Brace & World 1965) made important contributions to understanding this American poet's achievement. He taught briefly at Wilmington College in Ohio before coming to Alma College in Michigan in 1957, where he was a faculty member in the English department for 34 years. Students in his classes will remember him as an engaging and challenging educator who called on them to think beyond familiar or standard responses to a writer's work - and to make full use of the power of language not just as an expressive tool but as a mode of genuine thinking and discovery. For many years he served as advisor to the student creative writing group, the Parnassians, convening students at his home to discuss works of student poetry and fiction. His own short fiction was published in a variety of venues including The Carleton Miscellany and Esquire. Perhaps his best-known story, "I'm Going Down to Watch the Horses Come Alive," was included in several collections of modern and contemporary fiction in the 1980s. He was editor, with James Tipton, of a collection entitled The Third Coast: Contemporary Michigan Fiction (Wayne State University Press, 1982). His most recent creative effort was a completed novel about an historical American Indian named Logan.
Robert survived cancer as a young man and throughout his life served as a source of support and encouragement to others who battled this disease. Anyone who knew him recognized his love for his dogs and the outdoors - and for the woods, lakes and streams of Michigan in particular. He was an avid camper and an accomplished trout fisherman. He enjoyed feeding the birds and deer. In 1970 he purchased a 160-acre tract of wooded land in central Michigan that included a trout stream. For 40 years this land has been his home and the site of outdoor gatherings of family and friends.

Reviews

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are new to the work of e. e. Cummings, like myself, and want to have some idea of what went on in that wonderful and wondrous mind of his, I highly recommend this book. There are a few books of 'literary criticism' or analysis of Cummings poems, but I think this one would be hard to beat. As I was reading this book, I got the feeling that Wegner really knew what made Cummings tick, and Cummings himself commented on how much he enjoyed reading this book.

While Kidder's book on Cummings takes a more systematic and chronological approach, and covers a larger number of poems, Wegner deeply explores the main themes and concerns in Cummings' work, mostly as a poet, but sometimes referring to his paintings as well. To give an analogy, Kidder is the guy who sees the trees in the mind of e. e. cummings but Wegner sees the whole FOREST of his mind, his aims, his principles, his themes, and all of its magnificence and majesty.

This may not be the book for those who want a comprehensive piece that will go through and analyse his works poem by poem (for that book read Kidder's) but I walked away from this book both with a better understanding and an even greater respect for the principles that Cummings stood for, especially the celebration of the individual. In other words, it's important not to 'sell out' to anything, to any creed, code, organisation or institution. Be yourself and rejoice in yourself and who you are. Very few people are truly themselves when they become adults. They lose those dreams they have when they are youngsters. "why do people let go?" as Cummings himself asks in a poem about a child letting go of a balloon which floats off into space, a metaphor for us letting go of our dreams (including pipe dreams) and ideals as kids.

While Eliot was fascinated with old writers in a modern context and Pound was interesting in revitalising old texts and poems in a modern context (the whole 'make it new' credo), Cummings was all about NOW, the PRESENT MOMENT - nothing else is important. And for that, I take off my hat, and say 'how true, how true.'

I always suspected Cummings was a great artist, both as painter and poet, and now after reading Wegner's book, I am convinced of it.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just re-read this. It's a great look behind the mind that was so innovative

[Megan Yaek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the history behind the inspiration.