e.e. cummings
I want to touch briefly on the stylistic elements used by e.e. cummings to create a dream-like state, metaphor for love and also writing itself, before looking at a new media piece called dear e.e. that addresses his style directly in relation to new media work. His poetry was revolutionary for his time and influenced many postmodern and poststructuralist authors/composers to play with language, punctuation, form, and structure.
For example:
because i love you)last
night
clothed in sealace
appeared to me
your mind drifting
with chuckling rubbish
of pearl weed coral and stones;
lifted,and(before my
eyes sinking)inward,fled;softly
your face smile breasts gargled
by death:drowned only
again carefully through deepness to rise
these your wrists
thighs feet hands
poising
to again utterly disappear;
rushing gently swiftly creeping
through my dreams last
night,all of your
body with its spirit floated
(clothed only in
the tide's acute weaving murmur
(AmericanPoems)
In this poem and also ecco a letter starting "dearest we," (also referenced by the new media poem dear e.e.) both the position of the text, the lack of capitalization and punctuation constraints and the heavy metaphor of the text transport the reader into this dream-like world, much like someone’s memory of a dream.
