Anyone Lived In A Pretty How Town

Much of the civilized world functions around the process and order of law. Crime, existing in a myriad of states, never ceases to rear its ugly head in every facet of human interaction. Adversely following crime is charity. However, many individuals partake in charitable actions not for the cause itself but for the positive publicity that accompanies it. When looking at the capacity of human nature and humanities seemingly many functions, nearly all of human life seems to be centered around vanity and personal gain. Such thought provoking concepts are addressed in E.E. Cummings’ poetic masterpiece “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town.” People tend to function in patterns beyond their own comprehension, never realizing the never ending loop that
Anyone, much like other characters in this poem, is both a literal person and a figurative anyone. How Anyone acts and dreams contradicts itself. Though he has hopes and desires, he lets them remain as insurmountable ideas. He accepts what he does accomplish in his dancing and regrets what he never does in his songs. People get married, have children, focus only on their family, and die. Then, the cycle repeats with none being the wiser. Despite the occasional anomaly, people do not go after their dreams but sleep them and sing them instead. No matter his goals, Anyone lives in a constant state where “he [sings] his didn’t,” and, “he [dances] his did” (E.E. Cummings 734). The majority of society is Anyone who dream but never actually accomplish anything. Whether by fear of failure or worries of losing, much of humanity is chained to a life where “more by more they dream their sleep” (E.E. Cummings 734). Dreams and goals that are out of the ordinary become confined to imagination and sleep instead of being actually sought after and
In a sick twist of fate Anyone’s “partner is simultaneously a person named ―noone and literally no one at all” (76). How can anyone love no one and someone all at the same time? From this comes two conclusions, the first being that love is impossible to attain in its fullest form and is something beyond the grasp of humanity. People idealize love to the point that no one can compare to the dreams they have for their future partners. Then, people simple settle for those who cannot meet their dreams because once again their dreams are insurmountable. Though Anyone tries, he will forever remain in love with Noone who though being someone is not enough. However, the second possibility is that the emotional range in humans is so vast and ever changing that they function like a pendulum that upon reaching one side quickly shifts to the other. Though anyone can love, his battle to love is constantly raging back and forth. So, while people love, romantically or otherwise, they do so in a way that evolves. Humans can love both no one and someone just as anyone did. Somehow though anyone was content as “noone loved him more by more” (E.E. Cummings