Edward E Cummings Your Little Voice Analysis

Edward Estlin Cummings, a 20th century poet, painter, playwright, and novelist, impacted literature greatly. Nearly all of his poems challenged the accepted rules of writing through formatting and grammar choices. The topics of the poems created the most controversy, especially the poems he wrote focusing on nature, religion, and his sexuality. Due to his strict religious upbringing, Cummings conveys his inner strife and difficulties forming connections through his eccentric writing style. Cummings, often referred to as e.e. cummings, lived in a Unitarian family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Born on October 14th, 1894 (CUMMINGS, E(dward) E(stlin) 1894-1962), Cummings grew up with his two parents and sister, Elizabeth. As a child, his stay …show more content…
This poem, written in 1922, expresses how Cummings attempted to convey his emotions through his work. This poem remains true to his romantic style of writing. He describes how her voice takes him “up/ Up/ with the pale important/ stars and the Humorous/ moon.” His flowery diction and seemingly random, though clearly intentional capitalization throughout the poem create interest and emphasis on important words such as “Up… Humorous…” and, “Sweetly.” He also uses personification to create a clearer image in the reader’s mind of how he feels when he hears her voice. Of course, there is no “jostling and shouting of merry flowers,” nor “wee skipping high-heeled flames [that] courtesied before [his] eyes,” but choosing to personify these topics highlights his emotions. Rather than saying that he “felt suddenly/ dizzy” and his excitement grew at the sound of her voice, he personifies the flowers and flames, giving them, as well as his emotions, a life-like, vibrant quality. The parallelism he uses at the end of the poem puts emphasis on “how [he] was crazy how [he] cried when [he] heard… [her] voice.” This shows the intensity of his reaction when he hears her