Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"anyone lived in a pretty how town" is a poem by E.E. Cummings, first published in 1940. The poem consists of nine four-line stanzas, each with an ABCC rhyme scheme. The poem tells the story of two characters, referred to only as "anyone" and "noone," who fall in love and eventually die. The poem explores themes of love, death, and the cycle of life.

Explanation:

"anyone lived in a pretty how town" tells the story of two characters, "anyone" and "noone," who live in a small town. The poem explores their lives as they fall in love, get married, and eventually die. The townspeople, referred to as "someones" and "everyones," do not understand their love and eventually forget about them after they die. The poem explores the themes of love and death, and how life goes on even after people have died.

Poetic Elements:

• Form: The poem consists of nine four-line stanzas with an ABCC rhyme scheme.
• Theme: The poem explores the themes of love, death, and the cycle of life.
• Imagery: The poem uses vivid imagery to depict the town and the characters' lives, such as "little by little and was by was," and "sun moon stars rain."
• Tone: The tone of the poem is melancholy, exploring the inevitability of death and the fleeting nature of life.
• Sound: The poem uses repetition of phrases, such as "anyone" and "noone," as well as alliteration and internal rhyme to create a musical quality to the poem.
• Language: Cummings uses simple language and grammar to create a childlike quality to the poem, reflecting the innocence and simplicity of the characters' lives.
• Figurative language: The poem uses metaphor to explore the theme of love and the characters' relationships, such as "they sowed their isn't they reaped their same."
• Structure: The poem is structured in a cyclical pattern, with the last stanza repeating the first stanza.
• Symbolism: The poem uses the small town as a symbol for life, and explores the cyclical nature of life through the seasons and the repetition of the characters' lives.
• Emotion: The poem evokes a sense of melancholy and nostalgia, as well as a sense of the inevitability of death and the passing of time.

Conclusion:

"anyone lived in a pretty how town" is a poignant exploration of the themes of love, death, and the cycle of life. Through vivid imagery and metaphor, Cummings creates a beautiful and melancholic portrait of two characters and their small town. The cyclical structure of the poem, as well as its use of repetition and metaphor, reinforce the themes of the poem and evoke a sense of nostalgia and melancholy. Overall, the poem is a powerful meditation on the fleeting nature of life and the importance of love in the face of mortality.

Poem Snippet:

"anyone lived in a pretty how town

(with up so floating many bells down)

spring summer autumn winter

he sang his didn't he danced his did"