About the Author

E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) was among the most influential, widely read, and revered modernist poets. He was also a playwright, a painter, and a writer of prose. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he studied at Harvard University and, during World War I, served with an ambulance corps in France. He spent three months in a French detention camp and subsequently wrote The Enormous Room, a highly acclaimed criticism of World War I. After the war, Cummings returned to the States and published his first collection of poetry, Tulips & Chimneys, which was characterized by his innovative style: pushing the boundaries of language and form while discussing love, nature, and war with sensuousness and glee. He spent the rest of his life painting, writing poetry, and enjoying widespread popularity and success. George J. Firmage edited many works by Cummings, including Erotic Poems; Complete Poems, 1904– 1962; and Fairy Tales.

Reviews

With the able hand of editor Firmage, Liveright (the poet's first book publisher) has brought out the definitive edition of Cummings's poetry. This volume has been prepared directly from the poet's original manuscripts, preserving the original typography and format. It includes all the previously published works, from Tulips (1922) to Etcetera (1983), as well as 36 uncollected poems that originally appeared in little magazines or anthologies. These uncollected poems include Cummings's important translation of Louis Aragon's Le Front Rouge , with the French text en face . Firmage has written a brief introductory note and provided an extremely helpful index of first lines. This volume is a godsend for specialist and general reader alike, providing all of Cummings's poetry from the juvenilia of 1904 to the poems written just before his death in 1962. A mandatory purchase for all libraries.-- Daniel L. Guillory, Millikin Univ., Decatur, Ill.