Selected Poems

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Cummings probably wrote some of the most beautiful love poems of all-time. Soft and delicate with a sincere tone of wholeness. Just read 'somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond" and you'll see.

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I believe that poem is capable of melting any heart. Apr 19, Rowena rated it really liked it Shelves: Another collection I wish I could give 5 stars to. Cummings was truly a wordsmith and I was in awe by several of his beautiful poems. View all 7 comments.

Selected Poems - Wikipedia

Apr 12, Karin rated it did not like it Shelves: Such a disappointment, since there are moments of poetic brilliance scattered here and there and it is evident he was a brilliant man. If I owned this copy, I'd have highlighted them so that I could share some of those gems. This is the first time I have read a collection of his poems--hitherto I've just read one here or there and usually liked those.

True, e e cummings was doing new things with poetry, but I have read better poets, or at least poets I liked better, who were also brilliant. Also Such a disappointment, since there are moments of poetic brilliance scattered here and there and it is evident he was a brilliant man. Also, to be honest, some of the sections were things I never like, such as a long section of satirical poetry and a section of erotica. But my chief problem was because in his exploration of new poetry techniques some got overused and often distracted from his point more than helped, even though as someone who spent a great deal of time in poetry for a number of years way back well before the internet I could see those points.

I will also admit that when I ordered this book from the library I wrote ee cummings in a brain fart when I wanted to read Ogden Nash--two very different poets. I have never read a collection of Ogden Nash, either, and am not sure how that will go when I someday do that, but hopefully better.

View all 6 comments. Jun 17, Peycho Kanev rated it it was amazing Shelves: Well, he gave us the perfect line: He was more modern than the modern poets today. Yes, that's the truth.

And, of course he was wonderful painter, artist. What else do we need? In times when almost everyone wrote like they wrote years ago he showed us that there is another way to put the lines, another way to go at the subject; you can just cut it in half and to hell with it. One of the best avant-gard poets and he was guarding his style with his mass Well, he gave us the perfect line: One of the best avant-gard poets and he was guarding his style with his massive work, you know. So read, you all, Edward Estlin Cummings, just to know that there is still some beauty in the poetry today; that not all of it is academic and dry as bacon.

Until the next book, until the next Word! View all 8 comments. Jun 17, hayden rated it really liked it. Dec 28, Anima rated it it was amazing. Reading this collection was like watching an impressive fireworks show! The greatest moments of excitement did not come instantaneously at the first encounter with the poems —it took me some time to see beautiful images and feel vibrations of meanings penetrating my heart.

So much delight to spend some time inside! To me, the most beau Reading this collection was like watching an impressive fireworks show! To me, the most beautiful poem from the entire collection is the one for his mother from whom he inherited his poetic gift "if there are any heavens my mother will all by herself have one. Aug 18, Malak Alrashed rated it really liked it Shelves: I got to know E. So yep, I got my hands on Cummings as soon as I could, and I was happy that his other poems were as dirty and erotic as my first impression of him.

E Cummings is hard to resist, and this collection gives a great insight into his unique poetry as he doesn't follow any traditional rule or pattern, he makes his own words and rules. Thematically spe I got to know E. Thematically speaking, Cummings focuses on love, mostly and life and he's good at both.

Although, sometimes the poems are hard to interpret and you can get lost trying to follow his thoughts, but he manages to get you back to track after a hell of a ride. Nobody else can be alive for you; nor can you be alive for anybody else.

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E Cummings are a great reminder of how important individuality is, he is able to send tremendous feelings in such brief words. He is always mentioned in films -Hanna and Her Sisters- and he has made an influence in poetry. Apr 20, Hester rated it really liked it Shelves: I've loved the poem 'carry your heart' for years and known I love Cummings because of that. I've been on a bit of a poetry binge so decided to get this book and see if I liked more of his work.

I really do enjoy it. The way he used language and syntax, shaping it to his own meaning and expression is beautiful. But it's not easy. There are little intros to the sections which help explain a lot about some of the poems thank god.

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I like to understand. To work out the layers and meanings and these re I've loved the poem 'carry your heart' for years and known I love Cummings because of that. To work out the layers and meanings and these really helped. I think you could spend hours on these and find more and more, which I haven't..

Hopefully I will appreciate the poems even further then. So many little lines, turns of phrase or just words leap out at you and grab on. I find I don't always fully grasp the whole poem but there are some lines that I keep going back to. Now I'm writing this I want to go read it again. It it more confusing than not, but when you work it out the reward is wonderous.

You feel like you deserve to understand the beauty and the humour he's portraying after suffering over a passage or a turn of phrase for a while. It's beautiful and this copy is a lovely selection Jan 02, Ian rated it it was amazing Shelves: The Greatest American Poet of the 20th Century.

Some poems did not catch my interest despite their linguistic acrobatics, but for the most part, this was an interesting collection with many memorable poems. Jan 10, Nikki rated it really liked it Shelves: May 01, Simay Yildiz rated it it was amazing Shelves: For English, please visit CommunityBookStop.

Dermot Healy Collected Poems Book Launch- 24 July

Jul 14, Puteri Yasmin Suraya rated it it was amazing Shelves: OK, I know it's kind of cheating when I put a poetry collection on my shelf, thereby adding it to my reading challenge, but on a normal basis I would read poetry books by flipping randomly to a page, read one or two poems, and then set it back down, perhaps picking it back up weeks later.

That's why I never add poetry to my GR shelf. Cummings' collection is the only poetry book I've actually read cover to cover, marking each poem that resonated deeply within me the Contents page is now OK, I know it's kind of cheating when I put a poetry collection on my shelf, thereby adding it to my reading challenge, but on a normal basis I would read poetry books by flipping randomly to a page, read one or two poems, and then set it back down, perhaps picking it back up weeks later. Cummings' collection is the only poetry book I've actually read cover to cover, marking each poem that resonated deeply within me the Contents page is now near full with highlights.

I read them all within a single day, and then spent the next few days rereading them and falling more deeply in love. His poems aren't all easily accessible nor simple; a lot of them require further squinting and that pen-in-between-your-teeth struggle when interpreting them, but I found that not so much frustrating as greatly engaging.

The amount of attention and detail in his craft is amazing. I'm not quite sure how to describe his avant-garde style, but it is so unique and uncopiable and just very Cummings, and it manages to evoke so much in so little. Cummings just gets me like no one else does. Jan 26, Leela Srinivasan rated it really liked it Shelves: This is why I read poetry-- I don't feel like I'm supposed to get all of it.

I don't want to constantly read things that I think I could have written. Sometimes it's nice, when a writer reaches into your soul and pulls it out on paper, but e. I didn't get a lot of this book. I wasn't meant to. But it stretches and redefines the limits of what He's so weird. But it stretches and redefines the limits of what poetry is, to me, and the parts I get I carry in my heart haha! Apr 06, Rachel rated it liked it Shelves: However, I have to rate this as a cumulative piece of work, and there were so many poems around I believe that overall it was such a mixed bag.

Some I absolutely loved, some I just liked, and some I wasn't a fan of. I think it's a great collection of his poetry if you like him, I really appreciated the little essays before each section, and there are definitely some standouts within the book. Overall I think this was a well-rounded collection of his work that I would definitely recommend if you enjoy Cummings! Mar 11, Amanda rated it it was ok Shelves: This was not my cup of tea. I don't love poetry generally and I found most of this to be nonsensical.

If you're the type of person who enjoys sitting and reading poems, spending time interpreting them and appreciating variances in form and verse etc.

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For me, it was more of a headache than anything else. Some verses and poems were entertaining, and I can see that E. Cummings was thought-provoking, experimental, and thoughtful, but it's just not for me. Jan 14, Paul rated it really liked it. I cannot read 'anyone lived in a pretty how town' aloud without crying. I think it's one of the most perfect poems ever written. Everything he wrote in the height of his career in the 30's and 40's is pretty much terrific. It's a shame that he lost it later on and grew cynical and complacent, but I guess he earned it.

These are some of my favorite poems to teach, if for nothing other than confounding the students with the diction. Mar 11, Danielle Long rated it liked it. I don't really care for poetry and decided to give it another try with Cummings. Alas, I love his poems but I'm still on the fence with poetry in general. Thanks to a college professor who ruined my love for it a few years ago.

Maybe I will come around one day. Oct 02, Kat rated it really liked it. Her spare style makes a nest for the soul: Zero built a nest in my navel. Blood too— From violent actions It's a nest belonging to one But zero uses it And its pleasure is its own —from The Quietist. She is the author of more than twenty books of fiction and poetry most recently, One Crossed Out , Books Digital Products Journals. Chapter One I'd speak if I wasn't afraid of inhaling A memory I want to forget Like I trusted the world which wasn't mine The hollyhock in the tall vase is wide awake And feelings are only overcome by fleeing To their opposite.

Moisture and dirt Have entered the space between threshold and floor A lot is my estimate when I step on it Sorrow can be a home to stand on so And see far to: Blue peeps through Sunny boys have spacious souls but killers Build war zones in the sky where they go to die Blue poems. A V-sign Sails into the elements: You won't be needing them On the swaying sea to heaven.

A cardinal Is red for fever where you passed The suffering world's faith Is a scandal. Success Hardly ever exists on these nights Which intervene in secret with a don't and a so! About the Book One of the best and most respected experimental poets in the United States, Fanny Howe has published more than twenty books, mostly with small presses, and this publication of her selected poems is a major event.

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