"anyone lived in a pretty how town" is a poem written by
E. E. Cummings. First published in
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* Januar ...
, the poem details the lives of residents in a nameless town.
Like much of Cummings's work, the poem is actually untitled, so critics use the first line to refer to the poem. Cummings often wrote in a manner that did not follow standard English
syntax and
punctuation
Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...
. This style is evident in the poem's first line, which is written in all lowercase letters and contains the unlikely phrase "pretty how town".
The poem inspired a
short film of the same name by
George Lucas.
Style
In the poem, Cummings states the lines, "spring summer autumn winter", (3) and "sun moon stars rain", (8) multiple times. In reiterating these lines he changes the order of the seasons, "autumn winter spring summer", (11) and "stars rain sun moon", (21).
References
External links
Full text of the poem at Poets.org
{{E. E. Cummings
1940 poems
Poetry by E. E. Cummings
Poems adapted into films
American poems
Modernist poems