A Pretty How Town

The Writing of a Modernist Audre Lorde once said, “Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.”(Lorde) During the 20th century many authors used a new modernistic style of writing. E.E. Cummings, a modernist writer, saw poetry in this way; his poem “anyone lives in a pretty how town” shows how he believes poetry is the skeleton of our lives and that it brings about new perspective into people's lives. Cummings was born in 1894 and died in 1962, and throughout his writing career he created more than 2,900 poems. In the poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” themes such as a move away from reality, alienation and disconnectedness, and realistic details are used to show his attitude and the attitude of the American people during this time.
One modernistic theme that can be found in E.E Cummings poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” is a move away from realism. In multiple areas of the poem readers can see a move away from realism in the form of a dream or an unrealistic element in the poem.’A change from realism can be identified when the author writes something that is out of the ordinary; something that is not part of reality. The first time a move from
realism can be found in Cumming’s poem is on the second line, “(with up so floating many bells down)” (Line 2). Immediately the reader finds him or herself feeling as if they were in a bizarre world. Cummings says “floating many bells down” giving an impression of a place where gravity has strange effects. This part of the poem gives a very unrealistic view of the setting. A realistic wording would simply say how the bells were positioned or used, but Cummings uses this confusing language to show a move from realism. Moreover, Cummings shows a move from reality in stanza five, he writes, “someones married their everyones / laughed their cryings and did their dance / (sleep wake hope and then) they / said their nevers they slept their dream” (Line 17-20). Within this stanza there seems to be a wedding and a celebration. By saying “someones married their everyones” and “did their dance” shows how there is a wedding. It gives the reader an impression of two people getting married with a celebration of laughing and dancing. But as the stanza continues, readers see a move in reality. The second part of the stanza, “(sleep wake hope and then) they / said their nevers they slept their dream” shows that the wedding was not real and only a dream. When Cummings writes “they slept their dream” it implies that the wedding was only a dream. He takes the scene of the wedding and turns it into somebodies dream, something that is distant from reality. Lasty, this theme of moving away from realism can be found later in the poem. Cummings states, “wish by spirit and if by yes.” (Line 32). Here Cummings returns to a non-realistic and distant figure of speech. He uses a spirit to show a move in realities. The reader goes from a realistic environment to an idea where a spirit is wished upon. In stanza seven, the characters in the poem are dead, “buried”, in the springtime. Their “spirit” said on line 32 may reference how people carry on after death as if life goes on, as also seen in the “winter summer autumn spring” with “spring” being the final step. The “spirit”, entering after the burial of line 27, occurs as others make their ways. It is connected with ‘if” and “yes”--their wishes about what they could be, or could have been. The message is to take advantage of the opportunities that are available. During their life, it does not seem as though “anyone” and “noone” lived their wishes. They instead remain outcasts and lived close to one another. At the end of the poem, when these two are dead, the author emphasizes the missed opportunity. In Cummings poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” alienation and disconnectedness can be seen as a theme in his writing. The first time this is seen in his work is in the second stanza, line five and six when he writes, “Women and men(both little and small) / cared for anyone not at all” (Line 5-6). Early in the poem Cummings creates an environment that is very separated. Men and women are said to “cared for anyone not at all”. This shows a community that is very disconnected. He also includes “both little and small” meaning that children in this community follow the same values, and do not care for anyone but themselves. A community that is very self centered portrays the disconnectedness theme in modernist poetry. Furthermore, in “anyone lived in a pretty how town” readers see a character that is subjected to alienation by his community. In stanza three, Cummings takes his original idea of disconnectedness and expands on it. He puts a special attention onto a character that is not named and shows how he is affected. Cummings writes, “that noone loved him more by more” (Line 12). From earlier in the poem readers see a community that does not care for one another, which is now expanded on to show a character that is not loved and alienated in his community. yet there may be another meaning here. Cummings uses “noone” to show a person, note how he made it one word. The line “that noone loved him more by more” shows that this person “noone” loves “him more by more”. Additionally, near the end of the poem this character is used again to show a disconnected and torn community. Cummings writes in stanza seven, “one day anyone died i guess / (and noone stooped to kiss his face)” (Line 28-29). In these two lines readers see that the character that Cummings uses to show alienation dies. He uses this to even further show a disconnectedness. Line 29, “(and noone stooped to kiss his face)”, shows how nobody payed their respects to “him”. This solidifies the idea that there is a separation in this community and shows that this character is alienated. But, like before, “noone” can be seen as a person. Readers see that “noone stooped to kiss his face” showing that these two characters may have been outcastes together. Throughout the poem cummings uses characters to show how they are alienated and disconnected for community, affirming the modernistic theme of alienation. Lastly, Cummings incorporates realistic details in his writing to show modernistic themes in his writing. Realistic details include symbolic, suggestive, and allegorical writing (Dr. White). The first time this type of writing is found is in the first stanza. Cummings writes,
“anyone lived in a pretty how town”
… … … … …
“he sang his didn’t he danced his did.” (Lines 1-4)
In these two lines Cummings uses the pronoun “anyone” as the subject of the singing and dancing. From this, readers see that “anyone” is a male because it says “he sang” and “he danced”. Also, from these to lines it can be said that “anyone” lives in this “pretty how town”, and that the “how town” is an actual place. Cummings uses this as both a suggestive term and a literal term. He wants his readers to see that “anyone” could be literally anyone, as well as the person in the poem “anyone”. In doing this the author makes this poem more applicable and relevant to his audience. Furthermore, realistic writing can be found later in the poem when Cummings uses physical things to show time passing. He writes, “sun moon stars rain”(Line 8). Each item in this line contributes to an illusion of time passing. E.E Cummings uses realistic things to show how time passes from day to night. Time passing happens throughout the poem and is used to show a cycle. Each item acts as a symbol and further demonstrates realistic writing in the poem. Lastly, Cummings shows realistic details in his writing by using symbols. One example of a symbol that he uses is on stanza six when he writes “(and only the snow can begin to explain / how children are apt to forget to remember” (Lines 22-23). In these lines Cummings uses the symbol of snow to show purity in the children. This could go to show that it is normal for the children to “forget to remember”. The symbol of the snow shows purity and innocence. In addition his use of snow could be used to show what season it is at this part of the poem. Snow is usually found during winter which leads into the next stanza where “anyone” dies. Cummings uses this kind of suggestive language to show his readers how the seemingly unimportant things can turn out to be very informative and essential in understanding the poem. I conclusion, E.E Cummings uses his poem “anyone lived in a little how town” to show modernistic themes.
One theme that can be found in this poem is a move away from realism. He uses unrealistic situations and dreams to prove this theme. Second, Cummings uses alienation in his poem. The way “anyone” and “noone” are separated from their community and not cared about proves an alienated theme in the poem. Lastly the use of realistic details shows a modernistic theme. Cumming’s poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” is significant because it talks to the community. It sends a message about the outcasts in society and puts a perspective on how people treat
others.