E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings - Poets, Birthday and Facts

Violet FieldHome › AmericanE. E. CummingsOctober 14, 1894420 views

0 based on 0 rates
E. E. Cummings Biography Stories 

E. E. Cummings's Personal Details

E

InformationDetail
BirthdayOctober 14, 1894
Died onSeptember 3, 1962
NationalityAmerican
FamousHarvard University, Writers, Poets
SpousesAnne Minnerly Barton, Elaine Orr, Marion Morehouse
SiblingsElizabeth Cummings
ChildrensNancy
Universities
  • Harvard University
  • Harvard University
Notable Alumnis
  • Harvard University
Birth PlaceCambridge, Massachusetts
Political IdeologyRepublican
ReligionUnitarian
GenderMale
FatherEdward Cummings
MotherRebecca Haswell Clarke
Sun SignLibra
Born inCambridge, Massachusetts
Famous asPoet
Died at Age67

// Famous Harvard University

Bertil Gotthard Ohlin

Bertil Gotthard Ohlin

Bertil Gotthard Ohlin was a famous Swedish economist. This biography profiles his childhood, family life & achievements.

Xi Mingze

Xi Mingze

Xi Mingze is the daughter of Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag

Susan Sontag is an American critical essayist, cultural analyst, novelist, political activist, filmmaker and playwright of international repute. Read on to find out more about her childhood, career, profile and timeline.

E. E. Cummings's photo

Who is E. E. Cummings?

Edward Estlin Cummings was an American poet as well as a painter, essayist, author and playwright. Being one of the most innovative poets of his time, his body of work included 2,900 poems, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. Cummings is well known for creating poetry using his own personal style by experimenting with poetic forms and languages, as well as revising grammatical rules to suit his own purposes. But despite going against traditional forms of poetry, his work was loved by readers and they became highly popular. He is also remembered for his attacks on conventional patterns of thought and criticisms on how society restricted free expression. Also ranked among the best loved poets of his time, he mainly wrote poems dealing with themes such as love, childhood, nature, etc. He is known for his children’s novels as well. Cummings can be considered as the second best poet in America of his time, next only to the famous Robert Frost.

// Famous Writers

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer is a Christian author and speaker. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin is a well-known American writer, autistic activist and animal expert. This biography profiles her childhood, life, achievements, career and timeline

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams

Tennessee Williams was one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. This biography of Tennessee Williams provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works and timeline.

Childhood & Early Life

E. E. Cummings was born on 14 October, 1894, to a well known family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father, Edward Cummings, was a professor at Harvard University, and later a minister at Old South Church in Boston. His mother Rebecca Haswell Clarke was a loving woman and he had one sister, Elizabeth.

Since his childhood, he had wanted to be a poet. Luckily, his parents encouraged him a lot from an early age to develop his creative gifts. He had a pleasant childhood, as he was fully loved and supported by his parents, especially his mother.

He studied in Harvard University from where he earned both a BA and an MA by 1916. After that, he went to serve in the World War I overseas as a volunteer for ambulance corps.

While serving in the ambulance corps, the letters Cummings was sending home caught the attention of the military censors since he had publicly expressed his anti-war views. This led to him and his friend being kept in a French detention camp for three months. He later wrote about his experiences, as well as criticisms of authoritarianism which was published as ‘The Enormous Room’, an autobiographical novel.

Career

His first public poems appeared in an anthology named ‘Eight Harvard Poets’ in 1917. In 1920, seven of his poems were published in ‘The Dial’ which served as his debut to a wider audience in America. *In 1921, he returned to Paris to study art, after which he went back to New York. It was then when he gained fame, both for ‘The Enormous Room’ (1922) and ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ (1923).

The original manuscript of ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ was actually cut down by his publisher, though the deleted poems were published in 1925. The same year Cummings was also chosen by ‘The Dial’ magazine for their annual award of $2,000, a sum which equaled a full year’s income for him.

He became known mainly for his unconventional poems that played with form, spacing, punctuation, grammar and even pacing. But he was also able to write traditional style verse such as sonnets with a flair for wit and whimsy.

He travelled between New York and Paris several times and also travelled throughout Europe. He travelled to the Soviet Union where he was quite horrified at the ways of the government, its social policies, etc. In his unconventional prose work ‘EIMI’, published in 1933 he wrote in depth about it. He vehemently criticized the Soviet Union, and described it as a “unicircus of noncreatures.”

In the 1930s he used to endlessly repeat himself by writing different versions of the same poem, as he felt separated from his culture and fellow poets. The most characteristic device he is remembered for is the unique, personal grammar as well as the breaking up and putting back together of words into different forms.

His greatest achievements were his love poems and religious poems. Some of the best works regarding sexual love and the religious experiences of awe in the twentieth century were written by him. It is to be remembered that such poems were hardly popular at that time. So, Cummings can also be credited for popularizing this particular style.

His critical reputation could neither touch nor affect his popularity. His works were dismissed as sentimental, as well as politically naïve by some, especially the left wing critics. However, his work was appreciated by many, not only for his verbal and visual creativity, but also for the mystical and anarchistic beliefs that they could read.

His critics often commented on his failure to grow as a writer over the years and questioned his intellectual contributions to literature. On the other hand, his supporters were of the belief that his works deserve much acclaim, and even credited him for giving ‘life to language’.

Cummings used to struggle financially and self published most of his works initially. But later in the 1940s and 1950s, his writing style became much more popular and accepted, and he started receiving much recognition. He received a fellowship as well from the Academy of American poets. Harvard University also awarded him an honorary seat as a guest professor.

Major Works

One of his most important works of poetry is ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ which was published in 1923. It became wildly popular for his unconventional forms of expression.

Inspired by his daughter, his most successful play was ‘Santa Claus: A morality’ It was first published in the ‘Wake’, a Harvard College Magazine.

His work ‘EIMI’ published in 1933 is well known for his vehement criticism of the Soviet Union, where he had spent six weeks. This work, which can be considered one of his best achievements, shows wildly his disappointment and hostility to the communist world.

His ’95 Poems’ which was published in 1958, included verses about a number of ordinary individuals, whom Cummings honored. It also recorded his negative views of the Hungarian revolution, as well as memories of his childhood time.

Awards and Achievements

He won the Shelley Memorial Award, Harriet Monroe Prize and Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1944, 1950 and 1958 respectively.

He won Fellowship of American Academy of Poets as well as Guggenheim Fellowship in 1950 and 1951 respectively.

He received Boston Arts Festival Award in 1957.

Personal Life and Legacy

Cummings’ had a car accident in 1926, which killed his father and injured his mother severely. His father’s death had a profound effect on him which led to him entering an entirely new period in his artistic life. He paid homage to his father in his poem ‘My father moved through dooms of love’.

He had two marriages, first one to Elaine Orr and second one to Anne Minnerly Barton. He had a daughter with his first wife out of wedlock. After separation from his second wife, Cummings met a fashion model and photographer Marion Morehouse. Even though the two lived together till he breathed his last, it is not clear whether the two were ever formally married.

He died of a stroke on 3 September 1962, at the age of 67.

Trivia

He started writing poetry at the age of just eight. While he was a student at Harvard, he further developed his skills.

Cummings used to hold conservative political views, a fact which seemed strange to many, because of his radical anarchistic literary persona.

He was influenced by the poetry of Amy Lowell.

// Famous Poets

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski was a German-born American novelist, short story writer and poet. With this biography, learn in details about his childhood, life, works, career and timeline

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. Know about his profile, childhood, life and timeline in the biography below.

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was an American poet, journalist and humanist. Read this brief biography to find more on his life & timeline.

E. E. Cummings's awards

YearNameAward

Other

0Harriet Monroe Prize
0Fellowship of American Academy
0Guggenheim Fellowship
0Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard
0Special citation from the National Book Award Committee Bollingen Prize
0Boston Arts Festival Award
0Two-year Ford Foundation grant of $15
0
0Dial Award
0 Guggenheim Fellowshi
0 Shelley Memorial Award

E. E. Cummings biography timelines

  • // 14th Oct 1894
    E. E. Cummings was born on 14 October, 1894, to a well known family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father, Edward Cummings, was a professor at Harvard University, and later a minister at Old South Church in Boston. His mother Rebecca Haswell Clarke was a loving woman and he had one sister, Elizabeth.
  • // 1916
    He studied in Harvard University from where he earned both a BA and an MA by 1916. After that, he went to serve in the World War I overseas as a volunteer for ambulance corps.
  • // 1917 To 1923
    His first public poems appeared in an anthology named ‘Eight Harvard Poets’ in 1917. In 1920, seven of his poems were published in ‘The Dial’ which served as his debut to a wider audience in America. *In 1921, he returned to Paris to study art, after which he went back to New York. It was then when he gained fame, both for ‘The Enormous Room’ (1922) and ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ (1923).
  • // 1923
    One of his most important works of poetry is ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ which was published in 1923. It became wildly popular for his unconventional forms of expression.
  • // 1925
    The original manuscript of ‘Tulips and Chimneys’ was actually cut down by his publisher, though the deleted poems were published in 1925. The same year Cummings was also chosen by ‘The Dial’ magazine for their annual award of $2,000, a sum which equaled a full year’s income for him.
  • // 1926
    Cummings’ had a car accident in 1926, which killed his father and injured his mother severely. His father’s death had a profound effect on him which led to him entering an entirely new period in his artistic life. He paid homage to his father in his poem ‘My father moved through dooms of love’.
  • // 1933
    He travelled between New York and Paris several times and also travelled throughout Europe. He travelled to the Soviet Union where he was quite horrified at the ways of the government, its social policies, etc. In his unconventional prose work ‘EIMI’, published in 1933 he wrote in depth about it. He vehemently criticized the Soviet Union, and described it as a “unicircus of noncreatures.”
  • // 1933
    His work ‘EIMI’ published in 1933 is well known for his vehement criticism of the Soviet Union, where he had spent six weeks. This work, which can be considered one of his best achievements, shows wildly his disappointment and hostility to the communist world.
  • // 1944 To 1958
    He won the Shelley Memorial Award, Harriet Monroe Prize and Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1944, 1950 and 1958 respectively.
  • // 1950 To 1951
    He won Fellowship of American Academy of Poets as well as Guggenheim Fellowship in 1950 and 1951 respectively.
  • // 1957
    He received Boston Arts Festival Award in 1957.
  • // 1958
    His ’95 Poems’ which was published in 1958, included verses about a number of ordinary individuals, whom Cummings honored. It also recorded his negative views of the Hungarian revolution, as well as memories of his childhood time.
  • // 3rd Sep 1962
    He died of a stroke on 3 September 1962, at the age of 67.

// Famous Libra Celebrities peoples

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim

Melissa Brim is the ex-girlfriend of former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.

Jacob Tremblay

Jacob Tremblay

Jacob Tremblay is a Canadian child actor. Let’s have a look at his family & personal life including age, birthday, relationships, net worth and fun facts.

Sierra Furtado

Sierra Furtado

Check out all that you wanted to know about Sierra Furtado, the famous YouTube Personality; her birthday, her family and personal life, her boyfriend, fun trivia facts and more.

Sexxy Lexxy

Sexxy Lexxy

Alexis Smith Walker, popularly known as Sexxy Lexxy, is an African-American singer. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements, and fun facts about her.

Benjamin Keough

Benjamin Keough

Benjamin Keough is an American socialite who is best known as the grandson and look-alike of legendary musician Elvis Presley.

Lizzie LDShadowLady

Lizzie LDShadowLady

Check out all that you wanted to know about Lizzie LDShadowLady, the famous YouTuber and gamer; her birthday, her family and personal life, her boyfriend, fun trivia facts and more.

E. E. Cummings's FAQ

  • What is E. E. Cummings birthday?

    E. E. Cummings was born at 1894-10-14

  • When was E. E. Cummings died?

    E. E. Cummings was died at 1962-09-03

  • Where was E. E. Cummings died?

    E. E. Cummings was died in Joy Farm in North Conway, New Hampshire

  • Which age was E. E. Cummings died?

    E. E. Cummings was died at age 67

  • Where is E. E. Cummings's birth place?

    E. E. Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts

  • What is E. E. Cummings nationalities?

    E. E. Cummings's nationalities is American

  • Who is E. E. Cummings spouses?

    E. E. Cummings's spouses is Anne Minnerly Barton, Elaine Orr, Marion Morehouse

  • Who is E. E. Cummings siblings?

    E. E. Cummings's siblings is Elizabeth Cummings

  • Who is E. E. Cummings childrens?

    E. E. Cummings's childrens is Nancy

  • What was E. E. Cummings universities?

    E. E. Cummings studied at Harvard University, Harvard University

  • What was E. E. Cummings notable alumnis?

    E. E. Cummings's notable alumnis is Harvard University

  • What is E. E. Cummings's political ideology?

    E. E. Cummings's political ideology is Republican

  • What is E. E. Cummings's religion?

    E. E. Cummings's religion is Unitarian

  • Who is E. E. Cummings's father?

    E. E. Cummings's father is Edward Cummings

  • Who is E. E. Cummings's mother?

    E. E. Cummings's mother is Rebecca Haswell Clarke

  • What is E. E. Cummings's sun sign?

    E. E. Cummings is Libra

  • How famous is E. E. Cummings?

    E. E. Cummings is famouse as Poet