Summary Of The Poetic Principle By Edward Estlin Cummings

Edward Estlin Cummings is known for his unorthodox style of writing English. During his lifetime, Cummings incorporated his unique structure and style into his poems. He became popular because his poems were viewed as brilliant due to his outside the box thinking for his era. Edgar Allan Poe another great writer and poet, had his own definition of poetry, and how it should be interpreted. Poetry unlike narratives and fiction does not have a distinct meaning. It is the reader’s choice to interpret the moral of a poem from what is given to them in the text. A general definition for Literary Theory is the description of underlying principles. There is no right or wrong answer when reading poetry. The subject is opinion based. In “The Poetic Principle” an essay by Edgar Allan Poe, is where he gives his definition of Literary Theory. His description “I hold that a long poem does not exist,” means that a poem shouldn’t have to be a certain length, but long enough for the reader to enjoy. A poem earns its title by elevating the soul. A poem loses its entertainment value after it has been read for longer than a half hour. The structure of a …show more content…
As the title suggests Cambridge, Massachusetts is an upscale community. It also happens to be Cummings’s hometown, and the location of Harvard University where he attended college. The ladies are referred to as wealthy, interpreted from the line “are unbeautiful and have comfortable minds”. They care for no one but those within their circle of friends, and appear to be anything but beautiful in the eyes of the narrator. The style is not free verse, but in sonnet form. When applying Poe’s theory to this poem, it has no meter, rhythm, or rhyme. This does however operate as a poem, because it is sending a message that certain groups of people put themselves above everyone else, and look down to the rest of