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Abstract:Pictoral power of language can be seen a unique art technique in experimental poems. In this paper, two poems by E.E.Cummings, an American poet, are adopted as samples to appreciate and combined to make a visual effect, or say, make it pictoral language.
Key Words:language pictoral power； experimental poem； technique
E.E.Cummings, often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e.cummings, referring to Edward Estlin Cummings(October 14, 1894~September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. In his body of work, poem overweighs other forms of literature. He creats nearly 2,900 poems, hence is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular one.
1 Experimentation
Influenced by notable modernists including Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, most of Cummings’s work drew upon the feature of so-called eperimental poems. As it is known, experimentation is one aspect of all Modernist and Postmodernist poetry, but experimental poetry makes a special point of innovation, sometimes in the belief that current poetry is stereotyped and inadequate, but more often for its own sake. Experimentation in the arts is nothing like its counterpart in science, however, and there are no theories to correspond with observations, fit in with other theories, or broadly make sense. It can be intriguing and pleasing, but it is not poetry as commonly understood by the term, and has therefore to be judged on different grounds, most commonly those of the visual arts, or say, pictorial effect.
2 Pictorial Power of Language in E. E. Cummings’s Poetry
Cummings’s poetry often deals with themes of love and nature, as well as the relationship of the individual to the masses and to the world. While his poetic forms and themes share an affinity with the romantic tradition, Cummings’s work universally shows a particular idiosyncrasy of syntax, or way of arranging individual words into larger phrases and sentences. Many of his most striking poems do not involve any typographical or punctuation innovations at all, but purely syntactic ones.Or,some feature a typographically exuberant style, with words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols scattered across the page, often making little sense until read aloud, at which point the meaning and emotion become clear. Cummings, who was also a painter, understood the importance of presentation, and used typography to “paint a picture” with some of his poems.In this sense,E. E. Cummings’s poems are often full of the charm of the visual art or the pictoral power of language.
Thereby, it can be easily seen that in E. E Cummings’s poems the feature of visual arts,or say, a kind of pictorial power of language is fully exhibited.
Next, let’s take two of E. E. Cummings’s poems as an example to feel the charm of the pictoral power of language. Look at the poem in the following:
a like a
grey
rock wandrin
g
through
pasture
wom
an creature whom
than
earth hers
elf
could
silent more no
be
At the first sight of the poem, we may feel the poem is irregular in the patter, or even violates grammar rule. For there appear some isolated letter or letters, such as g, wom, elf, etc.This, however,is just one of the distinctive features of the pictorial power of language in E. E. Cummings’s poetry. It doesn’t follow the regular pattern of the poem, say, a complete meaning expressd in a line, but instead, scatter words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols across the page. Thereby, the poem itself is inherently correlated as a whole, or say, cannot be understood line by line. In this sense, the poem is like a picture; all words, or parts of letters are the fragements of the picture.Readers cannot get the whole scheme of the poem until they read them all.
Specificly, of the pattern, the poem altogether consists of four verses, with the rule of three lines, four lines, and three lines. In the second verse, the letter “g” in the first line is obviously a part of the word “wandrin-g”(in the first verse, last line). Here, such arrangement is of course the necessity of the poem’s pattern, but also shows the beauty of the language. “Wandering”, the word itself expresses the elegance of walking, especially with the “g” purposefully seperated from the word, the readers can feel that the walking is slowly, in balance, or say, a kind of combination into the nature. Similarly, the seperation of “an” from “wom-an”, and “elf” from “hers-elf”, again reinforces the combination. The parts of the words “woman, herself”, which are the symbols of the humans, are here seperated and incorporated into the nature, and “could silent more no be”, which suggests the harmony between them. It is just the seperations that make the language unlike language any more, but instead, a picture.
When completing the reading of the poem, a picture of a woman walking elegantly, silently through a grassland, has been vividly manifested in readers’mind. This is just the unique arrangement of the poem’s pattern and the power of the pictorial language in E. E. Cummings’s poetry.
Next, take, for example, another poem.
l(a)
le
af
fa
II
s)
one
l
iness
This poem seems more abstract than the previous one, and too simple to present a complete meaning. On the surface it has only one or two letters in each line, instead of even a complete word, hence a comprehension of it seems to become an impossible task. It is just the simplicity, however, that has elaborated the optimal pattern to present the complexity of language pictoral beauty in the poem.
Of the pattern, the poem is altogether made up of five verses, with the rule of reduplicating one line and three lines. The poem, actually, at the beginning has presented the theme it wants.In the first verse, there are only two letters, say, I and a. Both of them can express the singular conception. Then, it is not hard to infer that the theme of this poem is possibly related to solitude. And the letter “a” is consistent in meaning with next verse, say, “a le-af”. Similarly, the two letters “f” and “a” on the last line in the second verse should be connected with the next two letters in the third verse, say, the double “I”, and also the single “s” in the fourth verse, into the word “falls”. Therefore, till now, we can see partly in meaning for this poem, “a leaf falls——”, then, what does the poet want to highlight in the end? Whether does it echo the theme we assumed at the beginning? See, a complete word “one” and a letter “I” in the fourth verse, and the “iness” at last, can’t seem to combine to express completely in meaning, if in order. But, what if the “I” is put ahead the “one”, and is repeated used before the “iness”? A word “loneliness” is obviously taken on. So, the meaning of the whole poem is clearly presented till now ——“a leaf falls”, loneliness. And the theme “solitude or loneliness” is again highlighted.
3 Conclusion
Pictoral power of language can be seen a unique art technique in experimental poems. Inpoems, the technique is fully used to express the theme to readers, by finely arranging and combining the words or letters to make a visual effect, or say, make it a picture. The paper just adopts two poems of E. E. Cummings to illustrate how this technique is used.
References：
[1]李维屏主编，英美文学研究论丛〔M〕.第十辑（2009年春）上海：上海外语教育出版，2009.5
[2]黄宗英，英美诗歌名篇选读[M].高等教育出版社，2007.6
[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Poetryl
Key Words:language pictoral power； experimental poem； technique
E.E.Cummings, often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e.cummings, referring to Edward Estlin Cummings(October 14, 1894~September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. In his body of work, poem overweighs other forms of literature. He creats nearly 2,900 poems, hence is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular one.
1 Experimentation
Influenced by notable modernists including Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound, most of Cummings’s work drew upon the feature of so-called eperimental poems. As it is known, experimentation is one aspect of all Modernist and Postmodernist poetry, but experimental poetry makes a special point of innovation, sometimes in the belief that current poetry is stereotyped and inadequate, but more often for its own sake. Experimentation in the arts is nothing like its counterpart in science, however, and there are no theories to correspond with observations, fit in with other theories, or broadly make sense. It can be intriguing and pleasing, but it is not poetry as commonly understood by the term, and has therefore to be judged on different grounds, most commonly those of the visual arts, or say, pictorial effect.
2 Pictorial Power of Language in E. E. Cummings’s Poetry
Cummings’s poetry often deals with themes of love and nature, as well as the relationship of the individual to the masses and to the world. While his poetic forms and themes share an affinity with the romantic tradition, Cummings’s work universally shows a particular idiosyncrasy of syntax, or way of arranging individual words into larger phrases and sentences. Many of his most striking poems do not involve any typographical or punctuation innovations at all, but purely syntactic ones.Or,some feature a typographically exuberant style, with words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols scattered across the page, often making little sense until read aloud, at which point the meaning and emotion become clear. Cummings, who was also a painter, understood the importance of presentation, and used typography to “paint a picture” with some of his poems.In this sense,E. E. Cummings’s poems are often full of the charm of the visual art or the pictoral power of language.
Thereby, it can be easily seen that in E. E Cummings’s poems the feature of visual arts,or say, a kind of pictorial power of language is fully exhibited.
Next, let’s take two of E. E. Cummings’s poems as an example to feel the charm of the pictoral power of language. Look at the poem in the following:
a like a
grey
rock wandrin
g
through
pasture
wom
an creature whom
than
earth hers
elf
could
silent more no
be
At the first sight of the poem, we may feel the poem is irregular in the patter, or even violates grammar rule. For there appear some isolated letter or letters, such as g, wom, elf, etc.This, however,is just one of the distinctive features of the pictorial power of language in E. E. Cummings’s poetry. It doesn’t follow the regular pattern of the poem, say, a complete meaning expressd in a line, but instead, scatter words, parts of words, or punctuation symbols across the page. Thereby, the poem itself is inherently correlated as a whole, or say, cannot be understood line by line. In this sense, the poem is like a picture; all words, or parts of letters are the fragements of the picture.Readers cannot get the whole scheme of the poem until they read them all.
Specificly, of the pattern, the poem altogether consists of four verses, with the rule of three lines, four lines, and three lines. In the second verse, the letter “g” in the first line is obviously a part of the word “wandrin-g”(in the first verse, last line). Here, such arrangement is of course the necessity of the poem’s pattern, but also shows the beauty of the language. “Wandering”, the word itself expresses the elegance of walking, especially with the “g” purposefully seperated from the word, the readers can feel that the walking is slowly, in balance, or say, a kind of combination into the nature. Similarly, the seperation of “an” from “wom-an”, and “elf” from “hers-elf”, again reinforces the combination. The parts of the words “woman, herself”, which are the symbols of the humans, are here seperated and incorporated into the nature, and “could silent more no be”, which suggests the harmony between them. It is just the seperations that make the language unlike language any more, but instead, a picture.
When completing the reading of the poem, a picture of a woman walking elegantly, silently through a grassland, has been vividly manifested in readers’mind. This is just the unique arrangement of the poem’s pattern and the power of the pictorial language in E. E. Cummings’s poetry.
Next, take, for example, another poem.
l(a)
le
af
fa
II
s)
one
l
iness
This poem seems more abstract than the previous one, and too simple to present a complete meaning. On the surface it has only one or two letters in each line, instead of even a complete word, hence a comprehension of it seems to become an impossible task. It is just the simplicity, however, that has elaborated the optimal pattern to present the complexity of language pictoral beauty in the poem.
Of the pattern, the poem is altogether made up of five verses, with the rule of reduplicating one line and three lines. The poem, actually, at the beginning has presented the theme it wants.In the first verse, there are only two letters, say, I and a. Both of them can express the singular conception. Then, it is not hard to infer that the theme of this poem is possibly related to solitude. And the letter “a” is consistent in meaning with next verse, say, “a le-af”. Similarly, the two letters “f” and “a” on the last line in the second verse should be connected with the next two letters in the third verse, say, the double “I”, and also the single “s” in the fourth verse, into the word “falls”. Therefore, till now, we can see partly in meaning for this poem, “a leaf falls——”, then, what does the poet want to highlight in the end? Whether does it echo the theme we assumed at the beginning? See, a complete word “one” and a letter “I” in the fourth verse, and the “iness” at last, can’t seem to combine to express completely in meaning, if in order. But, what if the “I” is put ahead the “one”, and is repeated used before the “iness”? A word “loneliness” is obviously taken on. So, the meaning of the whole poem is clearly presented till now ——“a leaf falls”, loneliness. And the theme “solitude or loneliness” is again highlighted.
3 Conclusion
Pictoral power of language can be seen a unique art technique in experimental poems. Inpoems, the technique is fully used to express the theme to readers, by finely arranging and combining the words or letters to make a visual effect, or say, make it a picture. The paper just adopts two poems of E. E. Cummings to illustrate how this technique is used.
References：
[1]李维屏主编，英美文学研究论丛〔M〕.第十辑（2009年春）上海：上海外语教育出版，2009.5
[2]黄宗英，英美诗歌名篇选读[M].高等教育出版社，2007.6
[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings#Poetryl