tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post761887208516493583..comments2024-02-22T15:48:50.427-08:00Comments on Poems and Poetics: Rethinking E.E. Cummings: An Appeal for a New Reading (Part One)Jerome Rothenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14166931849293504537noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-80980199974330073022010-08-09T19:44:33.876-07:002010-08-09T19:44:33.876-07:00Hi Jerome,
I'm a long time reader, first time...Hi Jerome,<br /><br />I'm a long time reader, first time commenter (as they say). <br /><br />Enjoyed this post...very much a fan of e.e.<br /><br />Wanted to let you know how to post poems in blogger in a way that maintains their original structural composition, it's pretty easy...<br /><br />All you have to do is click the tab for "Edit Html" instead of the tab "Compose". Then, put this code in front of the poem:<br /><br />(less than symbol)PRE><br /><br />and then at the end of the poem, just put:<br /><br />(less than symbol)/PRE><br /><br />(sorry, comment box won't let me put the actual code, so you'll have to replace where it says "less than symbol" with <<br /><br />That command will tell blogger to publish that section as it appears, maintaining the format.<br /><br />Cheers! And thanks for maintaining such a great website.<br /><br />Chrischristopher higgshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15364925625482314529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-62628245050276700292010-08-09T06:19:09.247-07:002010-08-09T06:19:09.247-07:00It may seem like a minor matter, but since Cumming...It may seem like a minor matter, but since Cummings took such care with the upper and lower case, I'd like to point out that the E. E. Cummings Society recommends that the poet's initials be capitalized. For the case for capitalization, see Norman Friedman's "NOT 'e. e. cummings' " at http://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/caps.htm .Michael Websterhttp://www.gvsu.edu/english/cummings/Index.htmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-42017958767396728642010-07-25T19:31:54.324-07:002010-07-25T19:31:54.324-07:00Cummings (or cummings) was large in my early poet ...Cummings (or cummings) was large in my early poet life also, and likewise I have snatches from poems still in memory.<br /><br />"somewhere i have never traveled,gladly beyond<br />any experience,your eyes have their silence:"<br /><br />"...the Cambridge ladies do not care,above<br />Cambridge if sometimes in its box of<br />sky lavender and cornerless, the<br />moon rattles like a fragment of angry candy"<br /><br />[Ellipsis above is in the original. Also the sometime absence of letterspaces after commas is per the originals.]<br /><br />"i'd rather learn from one bird how to sing<br />than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance"<br /><br />[In case the lines don't break right in the comment box: the first quote above is two lines, with the break after "beyond"; the second quote is four lines, with breaks after "above," "of," "the," and "candy"; the third quote is two lines, with the break after "sing".<br /><br />I read cummings's work at length and in depth (what I could) also at about 16 years old, for a good year or more, then likewise it faded as a presence for me, in some respects -- I only occasionally read cummings now. Though in other respects persists: in my own poems I use mostly lowercase, and irregular margins on both left and right sides. Plus whatever lingering in my general sensibilities, difficult to say.<br /><br />Though a central visual "model," for lack of a better term, that I consciously worked/work from in that regard -- rather than cummings -- was/is Ginsberg's "Wichita Vortex Sutra," along with poems by a few other poets with similar visual effect: Will Inman and Walter Lowenfels come to mind, and there were surely others.<br /><br />First came to cummings when my first (classroom) poetry teacher John Caddy (summer 1970, during high school years) brought a few of cummings's poems into class for us to read, among other specimens.<br /><br />My second poetry teacher, Wally Kennedy (1971-72, last year in high school) on one occasion said from memory cummings's Buffalo Bill poem, the same you've given here. For anyone interested, the poem (with cummings's visual layout) is available online in the Poets & Writers website, <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15399" rel="nofollow">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks for posting this.Lyle Daggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10731915540520704368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-28171524969235524192010-07-25T03:04:27.665-07:002010-07-25T03:04:27.665-07:00Interesting post.
Many of us have a complicated h...Interesting post.<br /><br />Many of us have a complicated history with this poet.<br /><br />Names and bodies of work fall in and out of fashion and favour, sink or swim as the winds of vogue and trend pass over the waters.<br /><br />Arbitration of reputation always a dangerous endeavour. To err is human. <br /><br />Doubtless Palgrave was confident he knew what was what, & c.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-16660122098395540452010-07-23T10:17:07.483-07:002010-07-23T10:17:07.483-07:00Would love to see what you would consider the esse...Would love to see what you would consider the essential cummings. Any chance of you editing a selected?Joseph Donahuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00392172511244610061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5593764226213882767.post-3764744279720769612010-07-22T08:05:49.617-07:002010-07-22T08:05:49.617-07:00When I have to offer indents, I use hyphens that I...When I have to offer indents, I use hyphens that I then color white. It's a bit of a kludge, but it works. If you're specifying a standard web font (like Times) with your CSS, which I believe you are, then you should be able to get some pretty accurate results.JP Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06904822536912752544noreply@blogger.com