The Role Of Transcendentalism In Poetry

The theme of nature is effectively used to depict Cummings’ idea of transcendentalism in relation to childhood, self-discovery and new experiences. In the early nineteenth century, English literary works were greatly influenced by the Romantic Movement, where writers looked to nature for inspiration. Similarly Transcendentalist ideas were developed around the same time and are associated with the movement as well. A method Cummings uses to incorporate the idea of transcendentalism in his poetry is through the portrayal of the relationship between humans and the natural world around them. In many cases, the characters in his poems experience a sense of self-discovery and an establishment of individuality through a form of contact with nature.

In the poem “maggie and milly and molly and may” four young girls play at the beach together but have contrasting experiences. The setting of the beach is immediately established at the beginning of the poem:

“maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach(to play one day)”

This provides the basis for Cummings to incorporate his idea of transcendentalism, as the beach is a natural environment. Along with the “m” sounds of the girls’ names, Cummings uses simplistic words to establish the setting, …show more content…
However, in terms of Anyone and his lover Noone, Cummings’ portrayal of the dynamic love between the two allows them to have individuality. Cummings shows that the other townspeople did not dare to be different and conformed to the established norms of society. They could only live their dream in their sleep, which contrasts with the experience of Anyone and Noone who were able to “dream their sleep” once they passed away. This implies that the couple had lived life to the fullest and had died with no regrets. Furthermore in the last stanza the onomatopoeias “dong and ding” used to describe the sound of the church bells suggests the passing of time with each