Today's Poetry Corner (5 comments)

Today's Poetry Corner

Friday, February 26, 2010 - 01:13 AM

Who knows why I ended up doing two strips relating to poetry this week -- 'tis the odd stirrings of the Muse, I suppose. But it makes me think it might be fun to have a "Sheldon Poetry Week" one of these days. (Not unlike the "Artist Week" we had all those many moons ago.)

Anyway, to rectify my loving jab at e.e. cummings, today, I thought I'd share one of my favorite poems of his:

l(a

le
af
fa
ll

s)
one
l

iness

bardofawen


Posts: 1

Registered:
Feb 2010
Re: Today's Poetry Corner (Score: 1)
posted Friday, February 26, 2010 - 05:14 AM (#55141)

That's a great poem, Dave.

Incidentally, there's a popular misconception that E.E. Cummings preferred to have his name written in lowercase. While it is true that he did sometimes sign his name in all lowercase letters, evidence (in the form of letters to his publisher) suggests that he preferred the standard spelling for his byline. It was a posthumous decision by one of his publishers to render his name in all lowercase letters, and that, regrettably, has stuck.

Or to put it another way, in English, we capitalize names as a form of honorific. Capitalization lends an air of importance, and distinguishes noteworthy beings, places and things from their commonplace counterparts. As one English teacher put it to me, "To write one's own name in lowercase letters is an act of humility. To write someone else's name in lowercase letters is an act of disrespect."

Just food for thought. :)


Locked profile
mehitabel


Posts: 1

Registered:
Aug 2007
Re: Today's Poetry Corner (Score: 1)
posted Friday, February 26, 2010 - 09:05 AM (#55150)

E.E. was a hero of my college wanna-be writer days. I recently found an issue of the literary mag I helped edit then and it has a whole lot of my efforts. Oh my.


Locked profile
ZBeebs


Posts: 18

Registered:
Mar 2008
Re: Today's Poetry Corner (Score: 1)
posted Friday, February 26, 2010 - 09:40 AM (#55152)

OK, how are we supposed to transcribe this strip, smart guy?


Locked profile
tobrien


Posts: 20

Registered:
Nov 2006
Re: Today's Poetry Corner (Score: 1)
posted Friday, February 26, 2010 - 12:03 PM (#55155)

And the collected work of e.e. cummings:

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/cummings.sh tml

This site is an excellent summary of many books- some of the kids books summaries are awesome. I particularly like the Cat in the Hat books and the Giving Tree

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/seuss.catha t.shtml

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/seuss.catha tback.shtml

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/silverstein .tree.shtml


Locked profile
tobrien


Posts: 20

Registered:
Nov 2006
Re: Today's Poetry Corner (Score: 1)
posted Friday, February 26, 2010 - 12:06 PM (#55156)

odd... i cut and pasted, then your machine added spaces that weren't there. i'd blame text wrapping or something, but they were in the middle of the line.


Locked profile
Discussion: Today's Poetry Corner | Login/Create an Account | 5 comments
Threshold:  Locked
The Fine Print: The above comments are owned by whoever posted them. The Sheldon site is not responsible for them. However, if you suspect a post has been spammed by a person or 'bot, or that illegal of offensive posts need removal, contact your friendly neighborhood cartoonist.

forums

welcome! please login or register.