A Last Thought

"Forward to an Exhibit II" by e.e. cummings

from A Miscellany Revised, published in 1965

source: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cummings/commentary.htm

In this piece, Cummings stages an imaginary interview where he connects his poetry to his painting explicitly. While some may claim that the two mediums work against one another, Cummings states plainly that "they love each other dearly." The two mediums in fact work together to elucidate Cummings' message. Due to his strange form, lack of punctuation, and often opaque ideas, his poetry is hard to understand, but Cummings claims that his "painting [too] is nonrepresentational." One does not explain the other; both are required for a full understanding. The colors in his paintings explain the emotions in his poems, while the precise wording explains complicated scenes of his paintings. The final line of this piece summarizes this idea perfectly. When he is asked where he will want to live after the war is over, he responds "Where a painter is a poet." In Cummings' mind, the two professions, painter and poet, are one in the same. He must use both talents so that his art reaches its maximum depth.

Cummings and Love 1940-1950

"nude trio: two cavorting, one reclining"--- e.e. cummings

Dated: 1940

Media: oil on cardboard

source: http://www.eecummingsart.com/artwork/?eec=0508&gal=s-0-53-22

Immediate thoughts: bliss, love, enjoying life, a couple and a spectator, happiness, cotton candy clouds, flowers, grass, without clothes, carefree, barefoot, dramatic sky

"the great advantage of being alive" by e.e. cummings

published in Xaipe in 1950

source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/48849870/Cummings-E-E-Complete-Poems-1904-1962

Unlike Cummings' other poems, the form of "the great advantage of being alive" is relatively standard, demonstrating the universality of the theme of the poem: love. In the first stanza, Cummings differentiates between "being alive" and "undying." Being alive is a mental awareness of life, enjoying its pleasures, while undying is simply surviving. He claims that the great advantage of being alive is the difference between rational thought and emotion. However, he discards this and tells his darling "that love are in we, that love are in we." By saying this, Cummings suggests the all encompassing nature of love. It is so powerful, that it triumphs over all else. Rational though need not be considered for he has discovered true love.

He then distinguishes his love, from all other loves. There are those "for whom create is less than have/ or one times one than when times where." Cummings explains that his love is not one that has been created. It is not the result of a multiplication of numbers, or any sort of manipulation; it has come naturally. It is a genuine love. Finally it is a love that others cannot replicate, for "this world.../shall never discover our touch and feel." Others may attempt to understand this love, but this is not possible. It is a love so unique that others cannot comprehend.

Although the poem and the painting were created 10 years apart, the two work together perfectly to convey Cummings' message of unattainable love. In the painting, there are three people, however only two stand together. The couple, a man and woman seem to be dancing together in a field. Much like how Cummings and his beloved are "above/ and under all possible worlds," the couple in the painting seems removed from the world around them. They are so overwhelmed by their feelings for one another that they do not notice the third person watching them in the painting. This person may try to understand the love of the couple, but ultimately this is not possible. Their love is their own. The dramatic colors in the sky show that even the nature has been influenced by their love --- it is a force this strong and all encompassing.

1930s Moonlight

"three couples at the seaside"--- e.e. cummings

Dated: 1936

Media: oil on canvas 

source: http://www.eecummingsart.com/artwork/?eec=1072&gal=s-3-26-22

Immediate thoughts: night on the left, possible daylight on the right, pink sand, beach, three couples, passion, bright colors, sun and moon, light, distance, closeness, hiding, unseen, purity on the right, the impure on the left, sun/moon traveling east, calm waves

"the moon looked into my window" --- e.e. cummings

published in 1931

from ViVa

source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/48849870/Cummings-E-E-Complete-Poems-1904-1962

Cummings uses personification to create a scene involving the moon and narrator. This moon seems to have an intimate relationship with Cummings, as it watches over him at night. This relationship, at some moments seems sexual as the moon "touches [Cummings,]...understanding [his] eyes cheeks  mouth/ [and] wandering/ against [his] shirt and into [his] body." This sexualized aspect of the moon is obvious in the poem, as the sexual and impure are often linked with darkness or night. However, another aspect of the moon is also created by Cummings in the poem. Less obviously, the moon possesses pure qualities, as he describes its "curling infantile/fingers," "hands (slipping)"and "little hands...jerkily." His use of the word "infantile" gives the moon youth. Just as children are pure and unknowing, so too is the moon. In addition, by describing the hands as "slipping" and "jerkily"-moving, he implies a lack of knowledge. The hands are inexperienced and naive, directly in contrast with the moon that "understands [his] eyes, cheeks [and] mouth." This dualistic nature of the moon, as both pure and impure, is much like the human as it matures through life. Humans possess both of these qualities through their life. This is made more clear by the movement of the moon as it goes "creeping along the air/ over houses / roofs." There is a constant movement by the moon in the poem, just as humans are constantly growing, experiencing childhood and then adulthood. This movement is even expressed in the form of the poem, as the words flow horizontally across the page in this stanza. Rather than placing "over houses" and "roofs" at the beginning of the next lines, he places them farther on the page horizontally, so that even the reader is continuously moving. In the final line Cummings writes "a fragile light bent gatheringly." This light, fragile and untainted, represents the pure. It then bends to gather, gaining momentum, again representing a constant movement away from childhood to maturity. 

Cummings' painting "three couples at the seaside" also experiments with the combination of sexuality and moonlight. There are three couples pictured in the left of the painting engaging in intercourse behind a dark cliff. To the right is a white sand beach. The sky above the couples is dark and cloudy while the sky in the right side of the painting is much lighter. The time of day is unclear, though a moon hovers. Much like in the poem, it seems the darkness is associated with the sexual and impure. The left side of the painting is explicitly erotic. The couples' relations are restricted by the darkness; they cannot enter and taint the right side of the scene. The white sand is a symbol of purity. In the middle of the painting, however, the cliffs are painted pink. These cliffs seem to act as bridge between the two sides of the painting.

The disjointedness of purity and impurity in the painting can be remedied by looking at the painting using the idea of "movement" from the poem. Seeing the colors of purity and impurity vividly in this painting helps one to understand this movement. At first glance, the two sides of the painting seem to be completely divided. However, just as the moon moves through the poem, symbolizing human maturity, there is a movement of color in the painting. On the left side of the painting, the darkest colors are concentrated. This is the heart of impurity in the painting. As one moves to the right however, the colors slowly become lighter. The middle cliffs' pink color is significant as red is a color associated with passion. Pink, a lightened version of red, is symbolic of the transition from the impure to the pure. Within pink, there is red, representing lust and passion, like the couples in the left side of the painting, but also white, representing the purity in the movement towards the right side of the painting. Finally in the right side of the painting, the white exists as the most pure location. In both works, Cummings demonstrates human sexual evolution. 

In the poem, the moon "looks into [his] window," while in the painting the moon hovers overhead. These two works present contrasting views of the moon. The moon hanging overhead may represent a God-like figure, watching human life. The moon of the poem is instead like a human, both tainted and pure. In his two woks, Cummings uses the same figure to represent divinity and reality. Perhaps this is indicative of the close connection Cummings sees between the human and the sacred. Humans, even in their fallibility, maintain a level of purity similar to the immaculate. 

Cummings of the 1920s: An Apocalyptic Vision

"abstraction on check blank"--- e.e. cummings
Media: pencil on paper
Dated: 1920s (c.)
Source: http://www.eecummingsart.com/artwork/?eec=0311&gal=s-4-43-31

Immediate thoughts: A maze. Circles and spirals. No color. Sharp lines and smooth lines. No end. One thing flows to the next. Anger. Confusion. Endless stairs. Rainbows. Water. Cobblestone. Pain. Outside of reality. The scene flows off the page, out of the image. Smeared pencil. Carelessness. No hope. Something non-human. Drawn quickly. Lack of precision.

"The Glory Is Fallen Out Of" by e.e. cummings
From Tulips and Chimneys published in 1923
source: http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/10137/

Cummings' poem seems to have a tone that is almost apocalyptic. In his repetition of the phrase "this is the passing of all shining things"he reveals that the goodness, which once existed, is disappearing. Objects once shining, no longer remain. Nature is destroyed as "the last immortal leaf is dead." Cummings also indicates a loss of morality saying, "the glory is fallen out of the sky." The sky, which is often associated with heaven, is a place of purity and holiness. By saying that the glory has fallen out of this sacred space, Cummings implies that even God is no longer present. There is a loss of order. Humans too succumb to this fate, as they descend"into receptive earth." Without God, there is no life for the humans.

This apocalyptic process Cummings describes is final; it cannot be reversed. There is no "lingering [or] backward-wondering." Once the destruction occurs, all will be gone forever. For this reason, he suggests "straight glad feet." The adjectives used here reflect the attitude one must have. The use of "straight" indicates a known direction, an understanding of the future, while the use of "glad" indicates an acceptance of the dismal fate. With these feet, one walks down the path of imminent destruction.

The form of the poem gives the reader a sense of being lead somewhere. The lines are short flowing vertically down the page rather than horizontally across it. It is as if the reader too is succumbing to this apocalyptic fate, being brought further and further down to the end of the world with each line. The final line "darkness" is its own stanza. Its solitude indicates that the poem has brought the reader to its final destination: darkness.

At first glance, Cummings' drawing seems to have little in common with his poem. The drawing is abstract and simple, containing swirls and geometric shapes. It does not seem to imitate anything concrete. The sharp lines and lack of empty space create a feeling of unease and the smudges create a feeling of carelessness.  When looking at it through the lens of the poem, however, it suddenly has more meaning. While the apocalyptic world many imagine may contain colorful flames and dark smoke, the lack of color in Cummings' drawing creates a scene that is equally chilling. Because color is a sensation associated with emotion and feeling, the colorless world Cummings envisions lacks emotion. This offers a connection between the two works: the drawing can in many ways act as a physical representation of the poem. The colorless world of spirals and sharp lines may in fact be an apocalyptic one. Just as the poem leads the reader down the line, the lines in the drawing lead one off the page. The world off of the page resembles the "darkness" at the end of the poem. Cummings describes a "formal spasm / in the/ dust." The swirls in the drawing allow one to see this spasm, as the lines convulse. In addition, the lack of color, and semblance to any sort of life, allows one to better understand the destruction of nature. There is not even a sign that the "last immortal /leaf/ is/ dead." Finally, there is a difference in the finality of message of the two works. While it seems there is no returning, "lingering/ or backward-/wondering," from the world of Cummings' poem, this is not the case in the drawing. The lines flow off of the page, like paths, allowing one to re-enter the scene of the drawing. In the world of "abstraction on check blank," one can begin off of the page and step onto the path of the piece of art. This suggests that perhaps there is salvation in this world of abstraction. "The end" may not actually be "the end." 

My Project

All art conveys a message and in turn evokes feelings. Different types of art, however, perform this function differently. The everyday experience can be captured in text, where feelings are spelled out and explained. The experience can also be captured in an image, allowing one to literally “see” an experience.

e.e. cummings, seizes the everyday in two forms: poetry and painting. While most artists allow us to understand their message in one form, e.e. cummings provides more. A different medium can reinvent and transform the message of the artist.

For this project, I would like to see how the two mediums represent the artist similarly or differently. I will look at a piece of art and a poem produced around the same period. Perhaps the piece of art will complicate something he has written in the poem. I will put the two works in dialogue with each other, much like in the evolving thesis. One medium may convey something that the other cannot. What are the benefits of colors versus the benefits of actual text? What elements are lost in each? Which seem to more accurately convey the poet’s emotions?

I am examining these pieces of art not as an expert but rather as an interested individual. I know almost nothing about poetry, art history, or art technique. I am analyzing the messages of these works as someone in the everyday might perceive them. 

I will first observe the paintings and drawings, recording my thoughts in a "stream of consciousness" format, without paying attention to the year in which they were produced. I will then analyze the poem from that year more coherently. Finally, I will compare and contrast the messages of the two. The combination of the two mediums will give me a fuller understanding of the artist and the aim of his work as a whole.