ee cummings

            
            
             Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many .
             poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual .
             line, word, and even letter placements - namely, ideograms. Cummings' .
             most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely .
             terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may be .
             sounds or characters on the page that cannot be verbalized or cannot .
             convey the same message if pronounced and not read. Four of Cummings' .
             poems - l(a, mortals), !blac, and swi( - illustrate the ideogram form .
             quite well. Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these poems in order to .
             convey messages visually as well as verbally.
             Although one may think of l(a as a poem of sadness and .
             loneliness, Cummings probably did not intend that. This poem is about.
             individuality - oneness (Kid 200-1). The theme of oneness can be .
             derived from the numerous instances and forms of the number '1' .
             throughout the poem. First, 'l(a' contains both the number 1 and the .
             singular indefinite article, 'a'; the second line contains the French .
             singular definite article, 'le'; 'll' on the fifth line represents two .
             ones; 'one' on the 7th line spells the number out; the 8th line, 'l', .
             isolates the number; and 'iness', the last line, can mean "the state .
             of being I" - that is, individuality - or "oneness", deriving the .
             "one" from the lowercase roman numeral 'i' (200). Cummings could have .
             simplified this poem drastically ("a leaf falls:/loneliness"), and .
             still conveyed the same verbal message, but he has altered the normal .
             syntax in order that each line should show a 'one' and highlight the .
             theme of oneness. In fact, the whole poem is shaped like a '1' (200). .
             The shape of the poem can also be seen as the path of a falling leaf; .
             the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters like a .
             falling leaf gliding, back and forth, down to the ground. The .
             beginning 'l(a' changes to 'le', and 'af' flips to 'fa'.