e. e. cummings: hints for reading

Hints for Reading Cummings

Reading poetry is an entirely subjective activity, of course. This page was created with the intent of providing a few quick hints for the confused (most often desperate students) in getting a basic understanding of cummings' poetry despite his somewhat unorthodox style.

1) Read the poem (at least initially) at its natural pace: let your eyes follow along the words wherever they lie. Do not stop and analyze or try to figure out what things mean or why words are misspelled/broken.

2) Pay special attention as you read to how YOU feel. When a word is broken do you slow down? Speed up? Get confused? Surprised? Cummings is creating these emotions in you simply by organization and word choice...they are intentional.

3) When you finish any poem the first time through, you may not understand it, but you are often left with a general feeling of what it was about. Think about that at the end of the Cummings poem: it is often the main point. Keep that fact in mind as you read back through it.

4) As you mull back through the poem trying to understand each part, be sure to read as you read the first time: at the poem's pace. Each phrase may not make sense, but does it create an emotion in you? Does the phrase give you some unquantifiable impression of what its talking about? Do not be afraid to accept that impression as correct.

5) Often words are broken up over long parts of the poem, perhaps with an entire phrase or even verse in the middle of the word. Figure out what the words are, then read again knowing what word is being interrupted or reorganized.

6) If you still don't understand anything about the poem, pick up a few other cummings poems and read them to get a feel for what he does, then come back.

7) Of course, the other basic ways to read poetry also apply. Just remember that often cummings poems are expressing a single emotion. If you are trying to analyze such a poem, it is probably most interesting to focus on how he goes about extracting this feeling from you with only ink and paper.

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