Mythical Interpretation Of E. E. Cummings’s Poetry

E. E. Cummings(1894-1962), an American poet, painter and playwright, is well-known as an avant-garde poet for the individuality of his poetry w hich is mainly characterized with irregular typography, distinctive diction and unusual syntax. The 20 th century witnesses the transition from tradition to modernism, in which Cummings is also a traditional poet in writing lyrics with romanticism. He opposes rationalism and science, escapes from industrial society, and is extremely enthusiastic about nature, emotions, life and individuality. He believes that an essential difference exists between “the individual” and “mostpeople”.This thesis, based on German philosopher Ernst Cassirer’s theory about mythical thought, aims to uncover the mythical consciousness which is embedded in Cummings and his poetry. Cassirer states that people as symbolic animal, create a new diversified dimension of reality and live in it. The symbolic reality is the fundamental condition people rely on. As a prelogic symbolic system, myth affect s and permeates human culture in every field, and will not dissolve due to the developing of theoretical thinking.According to these theori es, this thesis will interpret Cummings and his poems mainly from three aspects: firstly, it will analyze two poetic techniques in mythical consciousness and appreciate the artistic effect he creates by applying the images from the substantiation of immedi ate experience as well as the eccentric word; secondly, it will discuss that Cummings inspired by the emotion-based mythical thoughts, is eager for returning to nature and thinking of the cycle from death to life in pursuit of eternity; at last, evolving f rom mythical consciousness, unity of two opposite concepts, articulation of space and time and individuality also have fully developed in Cummings and his poems.Through a textual analysis and a comparative study from philosophy and poetics, this thesis contends that the innovative poems Cummings composed inherit a tradition with primitive romanticism and reflect a profound mythical consciousness.