A Theme of Intimacy and Affection in E. E. Cummings’ Poetry

E. E. Cummings once stated, “who proudly and humbly affirms that love is the mystery-of-mysteries … that ‘an artist, a man, a failure’ is … a naturally and miraculously whole human being … whose only happiness is to transcend himself, whose every agony is to grow”. Cummings describes love as a mystery in the quote. He sees it as something amazing that is hard to obtain, but once love is achieved a person can be happier than ever. Cummings continued to show the ideas of wanting affection throughout his life and through two specific poems, “l(a” and “Since Feeling is First.” Cummings’ poetry focuses on his desire for intimacy and affection because he lacked both in his life.

Cummings’ work was very representative of his life. Cummings’ desired both intimacy, which refers to being in a close, personal relationship with a person, and affection, which also relates to the idea of intimacy. The lack of intimacy and affection can be traced back to his several marriages. In a biography of Cummings’ life, Norman Friedman writes, “The first was to Elaine Orr, with whom he had a relationship before their marriage…” Later Friedman also adds, “Their daughter Nancy had been born in 1919, but the marriage failed and Cummings lost any legal rights to the child, who was raised entirely apart from him…” Cummings’ first marriage did not end well and the fact that his daughter was taken from him could have been a stressor to his emotional status. Cummings’ may have felt that he could not show affection because a time that he did, his daughter and wife left. Having a child taken from a person results in emotional distress, which he could have through a lack of affection. Cummings’ had two marriages after that but as Friedman discloses, “he married Anne Barton, but their relationship ended…” His final marriage to Marion Morehouse; however, lasted the rest of his life. The fact that he was never satisfied with only one marriage shows his lack of intimacy.

Cummings encountered some other traumatic events in his lifetime. Another hardship in Cummings’ life included being “taken to a concentration camp…” as Robert K. Martin stated in Cummings’ biography. This period in Cummings’ life was very difficult for him because he was taken to a concentration camp and learned the trials that many people were going through. This experience could have been a cause for a lack of affection. Later, Martin points out that Cummings and William Slater Brown both, “were drafted in the summer of 1918 and sent to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, for training as an infantry soldier.” Since they were sent into the infantry the two men could have experienced many hardships. This experience would have affected his ability to show love and affection. The traumatic events would have played a role in his future relationships and in his poetry.

Cummings’ poem “l(a” relates to his desire for intimacy and affection. The poem is describing a leaf falling from a tree. The words “a leaf falling” are inserted in the parenthesis in the poem. On the outside of the parenthesis the word “loneliness” is depicted. All of the words are written vertically with either two letters or characters on each line. The only line of the poem where this rule does not apply is the final line of the poem which contains five letters.

The theme of this particular poem is loneliness as a destructive force . The poem is representing isolation. Poetry for Students makes valid points when describing this isolation in the poem by explaining that the word “one” is used over and over again in the poem. They also explain how the entire poem itself is in the shape of the number one. This is very important in representing the aloneness experienced in the poem. The feeling of being alone could have been the reason for his desire for intimacy and affection. Cummings’ expresses the thought of “one” throughout the poem which shows that he was alone and wanted that feeling of belonging. Napierkowski and Ruby also explain that the words in parenthesis alternate between consonant/vowel/vowel and consonant/consonant/vowel. They depict this as the leaf slowly falling or spinning to the ground. The leaf is falling by itself, alone. When the leaf falls it is dying because it leaves the tree that provides its source of nutrients. As the leaf falls it is by itself, this shows a longingness for affection because no one wants to die alone. If people could die together they would.

In reference to a desire for intimacy and affection, John Arthos describes Cummings’ poetry by explaining, “ Love and lovers, not only traditionally but also as a logical consequence of the speaker’s thought, are seen against the background of, and in harmony with, nature and natural process…”. This is clearly relating to the fact that the entire point of the poem “l(a” is to connect aspects of affection, or love, to the idea of nature. In the case of this poem the nature aspect includes the leaf falling. In the process of the leaf falling it is also dying, which describes the natural process that Arthos refers to. Later Arthos also goes on to describe the reasoning for Cummings’ language. Arthos explains that the reason for changing words and the use of unconventional punctuation as a way of changing the english language is represent Cummings’ emotions. In the poem he puts the word loneliness separated from everything else. This is a way of expressing his emotions of loneliness. A second poem in which Cummings longs for affection includes his poem “Since Feeling is First”. The poem itself looks like any ordinary poem by any other author, which is unlike most of Cummings’ other poetry. The poem has stanzas that consist of two to four lines. This poem is a lot simpler than most of his other poetry. Cummings conveys the topic of love and affection very effectively throughout the poem. The main theme of the poem includes love and affection. The feeling and showing of love relates directly to his desire for intimacy and affection. The fact that the poem is easier to read than most of his other works displays the feeling of love, which is supposed to be light and breezy.

The poem itself makes many references to the physical side of affection. Poetry for Students describes Cummings’ poem by stating, “he asserts that one’s emotional response occurs first”. The poem explains many affectionate instances which include kisses and being in an embrace with a woman. This relates to his desire for intimacy because he is longing for this specific woman’s affection and love. Later in the poem Poetry for Students continues to explain, “In stanza three...He argues that a physical relationship, symbolized by kisses, is more important than gaining wisdom.” The fact that Cummings believes that a physical relationship, which involves affection and intimacy, succumbs the need for wisdom shows how important affection is to him. It also shows that Cummings, over all else, wants the women in the poem to show him affection.

Cummings’ poem, “Since Feeling is First,” was written during a time in his life when he longed for intimacy and affection. Exploring poetry reiterates the fact that Cummings was truly in a very messy divorce while writing the poem. The criticism then goes on to state, “‘since feeling is first’ plainly celebrates — and even argues for — feeling over thinking, action over contemplation”. This statement displays that because of the messy divorce Cummings resorted to wanting to feel loved. Again the fact that Cummings is placing love over knowledge shows how important the feeling of being loved is it him.

Since Cummings lacked both intimacy and affection in his life, his poetry’s main focus includes those feelings of affection and intimacy. Throughout Cummings’ life there were many instances where he lacked the feeling of love. He chose to display those lost emotions through his poetry. The idea of love and affection is a very important theme that is learned from Cummings. Cummings intended to share what he was experiencing through the use of poetry. He wanted people who were reading his poems to feel a desire for love because it could make people happier after they obtained the feeling of love. In all the world can relate to the idea of desiring love. Many people can relate to the emotions that Cummings felt. Cummings chose to exclaim the ideas of love for a reason. He wanted to make the idea of longing for affection known to the world.