E. E. Cummings

LitCharts guides for works by E. E. Cummings

Explore LitCharts poetry guides for works by E. E. Cummings. Each guide offers line-by-line analysis, exploration of poetic devices, and helpful resources for studying E. E. Cummings's poetry.

anyone lived in a pretty how town

“anyone lived in a pretty how town” originally appeared as “No. 29” in E. E. Cummings’s 1940 collection 50 poems. The poem describes a community in which everyone generally keeps to themselves. The... view guide

Buffalo Bill's

"Buffalo Bill's" is E.E. Cummings's tragicomic reflection on the death of a legend. The poem's speaker thinks back on the spectacular feats of Buffalo Bill, the Old West showman whose death they're... view guide

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

Published in 1952, “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in” is one of E. E. Cummings’s best known love poems. The speaker feels an intense connection to an unidentified lover, addressing the poem... view guide

in Just-

E. E. Cummings's "in Just-" celebrates the thrills, pleasures, and subtle dangers of spring—both the literal season and the symbolic time of life. Childhood, in this free verse poem, has a lot in c... view guide

next to of course god america i

E. E. Cummings published "next to of course god america i" in 1926 as part of his poetry collection Is 5, which contained a number of anti-war poems. In keeping with this, the poem satirizes the in... view guide

nobody loses all the time

"nobody loses all the time" appears in E. E. Cummings's 1926 collection is 5, where it was originally titled simply "ONE XI." The poem describes the doomed career of the speaker's Uncle Sol, who fa... view guide

O sweet spontaneous

"[O sweet spontaneous]" appears in E. E. Cummings's first poetry collection, Tulips and Chimneys (1923). The poem imagines nature as a mysterious, "spontaneous" force that the human intellect can n... view guide

since feeling is first

"since feeling is first" was published in 1926 as part of E. E. Cummings's collection Is 5. Like many poems in the collection, "since feeling is first" is a love poem that celebrates the joys of ro... view guide

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

"somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" was written by the American poet E. E. Cummings, first published in his 1931 collection ViVa. Cummings is best known for his love poems, and this is... view guide