A Comparison of e.e. cummings and Walt Whitman

There are many comparisons that can be drawn between the works of e.e. cummings and Walt Whitman. For starters, they were both important American writers during the 19th and 20th centuries who often chose to write about social issues of the time. Both writers also faced scrutiny for their sometimes controversial writings (Folsom, Price; Academy of American Poets). However, there were a number of differences in the way that both writers chose to discuss their subject matter. Overall, cummings prefers to comment on society as a whole, while Whitman’s writings often have a strong focus on individuality and the uniqueness of every person.

Cumming’s preference of commenting on society and human nature as a whole can be seen while analyzing many of his poems. In his poem next to of course god america I cummings uses satire to make a mockery of the blind patriotism shown by many people. This poem begins with the lines “next to of course god america I / love you land of the pilgrims’ and so for oh / can you see by the dawns early…” (1-3).The lack of punctuation and coherent thought shown in this quote is a reflection of how cummings viewed nationalism as illogical. By jumbling together well known patriotic songs and references cummings is mocking the intensity with which many people support their country. Cummings goes on to write “in every language even deafanddumb / thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry / by jingo by gee by gosh by gum” (6-8). In this quote cummings is mocking the patriots by referring to them as deafanddumb and continues the sentence with a collection of slang phrases that are commonly associated with uneducated or “hillbilly” people. Later on in the poem cummings discusses some of the negative implications of excessive patriotism with the line “what could be more beautiful / than those heroic happy dead / who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter” (10-12).This quote shows that cummings had an unfavorable view of war and that he did not buy into the belief that military deaths were heroic and necessary. The inspiration from this line may have come from cumming’s own experiences during World War I, during which he was kicked out of the military after suspicions arose about his anti-war beliefs. (Academy of American Poets).

The final line of this poem reads “they did not stop to think they died instead / then shall the voice of liberty be mute?” (13-14).This final line is critiquing American society by questioning if the object of their obsession (freedom and liberty for all) is actually present. By questioning if liberty actually exists cummings is undermining the entire argument behind patriotism, while simultaneously commenting on a lack of freedom (possibly for minorities and other groups). These quotes indicate that this poem was intended as a criticism of American society in general and makes no specific references to any individual. From this poem one can assume that cummings wished for Americans to understand the implications of their blind patriotism and how patriotism can easily be channeled into something negative and destructive, such as war.

The poem Song of Myself by Walt Whitman is a great example of the focus Whitman put on individuality. This poem consists of Whitman celebrating his own life and enjoying the beauty of the people and places around him. In this poem Whitman avoids making generalizations about human nature and instead chooses to focus on the differences between how people choose to live their lives. The line “For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” (3) indicates that Whitman believes all people are equals and all have the ability to choose what to do with their lives. A clear difference between the viewpoints of cummings and Whitman can be observed in the quote “Battles, horrors of war…but they are not me myself” (47-48).This sentence indicates that while Whitman and cummings are both opposed to war they put the blame for it on completely different sets of people. Cummings blames war on society and its nationalistic tendencies, while Whitman completely absolves himself (and presumably others) from contributing to war. This distinction between the sources of war is a great example of cumming’s generalizations vs Whitman’s individualism. Later on in Song of Myself Whitman lists off a number of different people, each living their own lives independent of one another. The goal of this section was likely to show how despite our similarities, every person is completely different from one another and there is no point in making generalizations about people as a whole. Whitman goes on to state that “If I worship one thing more than another it will be the spread of my own body.”(112).This quote shows how Whitman disregards traditional objects of worship (such as religion or patriotism) and instead chooses to “worship” himself. Together these quotes indicate that Whitman was a strong believer in individuality and avoided commenting on society as a whole. From this poem we can assume that Whitman wished for America to become a land where individual freedoms are respected above all else, and where all people are granted an equal chance at pursuing their dreams.

Both Whitman and cummings use grammar, punctuation and poem structure to help convey the message of their poems. In the poem next to of course god america I cummings creates a monologue consisting of a giant run-on sentence, completely lacking in capitalization and punctuation. This disregard for grammar adds to the feeling of the poem being a frenzied, incoherent monologue created by a “Patriot”. There are also no breaks in the poem and the sentences carry over from line to line, which makes the writer seem rushed and in a hurry to finish the monologue. This is in contrast to Song of Myself, where Whitman uses proper grammar and separates each individual thought into its own stanza of 2-5 lines. This creates an orderly series of ideas which Whitman uses to profess his love for himself and everything around him. The orderly appearance of Song of Myself could indicate that Whitman wanted to present his individualist ideas as rationally as possible, so that others might desire to be like him.

While Whitman and cummings would likely agree on many issues, they each had their own unique writing style and beliefs. Cummings preferred to comment on society as a whole, usually with satire, while Whitman was a strong believer in individuality and chose not to generalize people as a group. Whitman’s conventional grammar is also very different from cumming’s refusal to follow grammar norms. These respective differences in grammar add to the disorganized feeling of cumming’s poem, and the rational feeling of Whitman’s. Regardless of writing style, both writers accomplished a lot with their unique styles and both are widely regarded as two of the most influential American writers.

#individualism #eecummings #WaltWhitman #patriotism #poetry