o+sweet+spontaneous

media type="custom" key="6191797"

American Modernism was a time period between nineteen twenty and nineteen forty. During this time American was dealing with many different issues, such as racism, gender roles, racial relationships, and sexuality. American modernism also dealt with prejudice within societies. The disagreements between the African Americans and whites were mostly about the “jobs” that each race was expected to accomplish. American modernism is also inspired by the first World War which lead to exposure of violence and war settings. The poem "O Sweet Spontaneous" shows numerous characteristics of modernism. E E Cummings talks about Mother Nature through the poem, which relates back to American Modernism.

In this poem, one of the first things E E Cummings says is, “O Sweet Spontaneous Earth” (Cummings). Right from the beginning of the poem, it is easy to understand that Cummings speaks of the beauty of the earth. Cummings makes these remarks about the earth and how beautiful all of the life on it has become. The analysis on "O Sweet Spontaneous" says that E E Cummings talks about Mother Earth and how it is from “Tulips and Chimneys” (Gale Research). Cummings writes about Mother Nature which reflects American Modernism. The poem tries explaining how the humans on the earth can hurt the other life on earth. One of the things Modernism was based on was human’s reactions towards World War I. Some of the humans reacted harshly and were abusive. "O Sweet Spontaneous" talks about how humans sometimes mistreat the earth. Humans do this by mining into the ground, pollution, and destroying it (Gale Research). Modernism shows the violence between humans the earth with Mother Nature.

Modernism can be confusing at times, which leads into Cummings poems. Readers have found that E E Cummings can often be confusing and even misunderstood (Gale Research). One of the main things that readers have a hard time understanding is why Cummings enjoyed using “i” instead of “I.” Modernism also was a time when people were not self centered. Instead of making everything based on themselves, they would put others first or not necessarily take credit for everything they did and let someone else receive the credit. Cummings wanted to explain that self was not always as important as it seemed (Gale Research). Cummings found that using capitalization lead to “important things” and stood out from regular writing material. He didn’t want other things to over power others by being capitalized, so he would put almost all of his words in lower case (Gale Research). This can relate to Modernism by showing that self is not always the top priority and the number one factor. Modernism shows the roles done by everyone, and not just focused on one person or thing.

In conclusion, E E Cummings poem "O Sweet Spontaneous" related to Modernism in two main ways. They were explaining how humans can destroy the inner beauty of the earth, and explaining the difference between words that are capitalized or in lower case. Whether something is capitalized or in lower case can show its importance (Gale Research). E E Cummings poem was set in a way to direct the audience towards the belief of earth and its beauty. Citations- Werlock, Abby H. P., ed. "Cummings, E. E." //Facts On File Companion to the American Novel//. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. //Bloom's Literary Reference Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CANov0233&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 26, 2010).

Cummings, E E. “100 selected poems”. http://www.cstone.net/~romie/cummings/index.html. Gale Research. 1954. 3 May 2010.