E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings in 1953
Born	Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-10-14)October 14, 1894 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 3, 1962(1962-09-03) (aged 67) Madison, New Hampshire, U.S.
Cause of death	Stroke
Occupation	Author
Signature

Edward Estlin "E. E." Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), often styled as e e cummings (in the style of some of his poems—see name and capitalization below), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems; two autobiographical novels; four plays and several essays. He is remembered as an eminent voice of 20th-Century English literature.

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14, 1894, to Edward Cummings and Rebecca Haswell Clarke who were Unitarian. They were a well-known family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father was a professor at Harvard University and later the nationally known minister of Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, who loved to spend time with her children, played games with Cummings and his sister, Elizabeth. From an early age, Cummings's parents supported his creative gifts. Cummings wrote poems and also drew as a child, and he often played outdoors with the many other children who lived in his neighborhood. He also grew up in the company of such family friends as the philosophers William James and Josiah Royce. He graduated from Harvard University in 1915 and then received an advanced degree from Harvard in 1916. Many of Cummings' summers were spent on Silver Lake in Madison, New Hampshire where his father had built two houses along the eastern shore. The family ultimately purchased the nearby Joy Farm where Cummings' had his primary summer residence.

He exhibited transcendental leanings his entire life. As he matured, Cummings moved to an "I, Thou" relationship with God. His journals are replete with references to "le bon Dieu," as well as prayers for inspiration in his poetry and artwork (such as "Bon Dieu! may I some day do something truly great. amen."). Cummings "also prayed for strength to be his essential self ('may I be I is the only prayer—not may I be great or good or beautiful or wise or strong'), and for relief of spirit in times of depression ('almighty God! I thank thee for my soul; & may I never die spiritually into a mere mind through disease of loneliness')."