'Anyone Lived In A Pretty How Town' By E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings was an American poet and painter. He wrote over 2,000 poems in his lifetime. Some of these poems include “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town,” “Maggie and Milly and Molly and May,” and “Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond.” Through reviewing biographical information, his works, and critical reviews, most critics agree that E. E. Cummings changed the course of American poetry. Cummings went through many hardships in his life that inspired him to write more poetry. He challenged traditional views and wrote from his heart. Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father was Edward Cummings, a Harvard professor turned Unitarian minister, and his mother was Rebecca Haswell (“Anyone Lived” 2). He started writing poetry and painting while he was a child. He wrote one poem a day between the ages of 8 and 22, resulting in approximately 5,500 poems (Cowley). He
It was published in 1940 as “No. 29” in the book 50 Poems (“Anyone Lived” 9). This poem can be interpreted in many ways. While the subject of the poem is about Anyone and Noone (no one) being individualistic in a conformist society, the main theme is generally agreed upon to be the passage of time. The theme is represented by the passing of seasons and the ringing of bells, which seem to ring after or during big events such as birth or death (“Anyone Lived” 11). The styles of writing in “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” are repetition and alliteration. Repetition is shown in the mentions of the seasons going by multiple times in the poem, and alliteration is shown most noticeably in the line “he sang his didn’t he danced his did.” Imagery is also used in this poem in the way a reader can visualize the seasons changing and almost hear the bells ringing as they read through the poem (“Anyone Lived”