于学勇 Appreciation of E.E. Cummings Poetry From the Perspective of Foregrounding

Chapter Nine Appreciation of E.E. Cummings PoetryFrom the Perspective of ForegroundingBy Yu Xueyong1. Introduction to CummingsE. E. Cummings, poet and cubist painter, was the representative of American modern experimental poets. As a poet and painter, Cummings reflected the harmony of poems and paintings in his works, eschewing the conventional rhymes and syntactic structure of poems and even rejecting to transfer information and emotion in the way of conventional printing.2.Foregrounding in PoetryThe term …foregrounding‟ is borrowed by stylisticians from art criticism, which distinguishes between the foreground and the background of a painting. The theory of foregrounding is probably the most important theory within Stylistic Analysis, and foregrounding analysis is arguably the most important part of the stylistic analysis in poetry.Leech’s Theory on ForegroundingForegrounding is realized by linguistic deviation and linguistic parallelism.Figure 1 The Realization of Foregrounding (Leech)Leech divides deviation into eight types: lexical deviation, grammatical deviation, phonological deviation, graphological deviation, semantic deviation, dialectal deviation, deviation of register and deviation of historical period. Now we construct a new pattern of the realization of foregrounding.Figure 2 The Realization of ForegroundingFigure 2 illustrates that the linguistic deviation and overregularity produce foregrounding. Linguistic deviation consists of lexical deviation, grammatical deviation, phonological deviation, graphological deviation and deviation of meaning. Linguistic overregularity includes phonological overregularity, lexical overregularity and grammatical overregularity, in which phonological overregularity consists of phonemic patterning and rhythmic patterning; lexical overregularity refers to lexical repetition; grammatical overregularity can be further divided into repetition and parallelism.3. Analysis of Cummings’ poem “in Just-”1. in Just-2. spring when the world is mud-3. luscious the little4. lame balloonman5. whistles far and wee6. and eddieandbill come7. running from marbles and8. piracies and it's9. spring10. when the world is puddle-wonderful11. the queer12. old balloonman whistles13. far and wee14. and bettyandisbel come dancing15. from hop-scotch and jump-rope and16. it's17. spring18. and19. the20. goat-footed21. balloonMan whistles22. far23. and24. wee3.1 Graphological DeviationThe most striking in this poem is perhaps the fact that there is no title. Rather, it is only one clause which runs over the whole poem. that only one clause runs over the whole poem. This may show that poet intends the poem to be read as a whole and places emphasis on the unity of the discourse. The important effect created is the arousal of the reader‟s expectation and interest. This is because when the reader reads the first line, he gets a sense of incompleteness and, therefore would like to read on to find out …what‟ is said. Taking a close look at the whole poem, we find that every line of the poem, in fact, creates a pulling-forward effect, though there may be differences in the degrees of strength.3.2 Lexical DeviationWhat may strike us is the compound nounsgoat-footed, mud-luscious , puddle-wonderful, balloonman, eddieandbill, bettyandisbel are …nonce-formations‟ (the words the literary writer invents).The Function:1. The unusual compounds that Cummings invents are suggestive of a “child‟s language”: hence, mud-luscious (pleasant muddy) and puddle-wonderful(= pleasant puddly). mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful evoke the joyful scenery-the children playing happily on the muddy ground after spring rain.2.Secondly, the names are merged into one another; eddieandbill(＝eddie and bill =Eddie and Bill) and bettyandisbel (betty and isbele=Elizabeth and lsabela). eddie and bill come running(=Eddie and Bill come running). eddie and bill are the names of two little boys which have several levels of meaning: (1)the decapitalization of the names demonstrates the boys are very little; (2) eddie and bill are merged into one word eddieandbill renders the cubic impression –the boys are running hand in hand. The effect here is to render the hustle, bustle, and speed of the children as they come running to the summons of the whistle.3.According to the context, the nonce-formation balloonman is the compounding of the words balloon and man which implies several meaning: 1) the man who sells balloons; 2) the man looks like a mixture of balloons and man because there are a lot of balloons in his hands and over his head; 3) balloonman is the symbol of spring. Balloons grant a profound impression of happiness and joy. Goatfooted/ balloonMan makes readers to associate it with Greek god Pan-Half-man, half-goat. Pan, God of music and play, is the symbol of spring. The capitalization of “Man” in balloonman emphasizes that the man selling balloons is Pan-God of spring.3.3 Lexical OverregularityThe repetition of words and phrases is another device to realize the foregrounding in this poem. The words “spring”, “whistle” ,“ballooman” and the phrase “far and wee” repeat three times respectively with the repetition of the word “come”, giving a vivid account of what is happening.4.Analysis of “anyone lived in a pretty how town”Cummings‟ poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” consists of nine stanzas with 36 lines, each stanza with four lines. Its plot is simple but hard to understand, and its success lies in exquisite language. From the perspective of rhythm, the poem is free verse although there are some regular patterns.anyone lived in a pretty how town1. anyone lived in a pretty how town2. (with up so floating many bells down)3. spring summer autumn winter4. he sang his didn't he danced his did5. Women and men (both little and small)6. cared for anyone not at all7. they sowed their isn't they reaped their same8. sun moon stars rain9. children guessed (but only a few10. and down they forgot as up they grew11. autumn winter spring summer)12. that noone loved him more by more13. when by now and tree by leaf14. she laughed his joy she cried his grief15. bird by snow and stir by still16. anyone's any was all to her17. someones married their everyones18. laughed their cryings and did their dance19. (sleep wake hope and then) they20. said their nevers they slept their dream21. stars rain sun moon22. (and only the snow can begin to explain23. how children are apt to forget to remember24. with up so floating many bells down)25. one day anyone died i guess26. (and noone stooped to kiss his face)27. busy folk buried them side by side28. little by little and was by was29. all by all and deep by deep30. and more by more they dream their sleep31. noone and anyone earth by april32. wish by spirit and if by yes.33. Women and men (both dong and ding)34. summer autumn winter spring35. reaped their sowing and went their came36. sun moon stars rain4.1 Graphological DeviationCapitalization is an important element in Cummings‟ poems. Rather than capitalize the first word of every sentence, or every proper name, Cummings seems to have an entirely different use for capitalization in a poem. There are only two instances of capitalization in “anyone lived in a pretty how town.”Both instances follow the only two full stops in the poem and capitalizes “Women and men” to imply the position and influence of the different characters: “anyone” and “noone” are lonely, while “Women and men” dominate the society. Decapitalization in the beginning and no full stop in the end symbolize that end is the new beginning. It tells people not to abide by the convention and anyone should breach the convention to realize his dream.4.3 Lexical Deviationhis didn't , his did , their isn't , their same , their nevers , their came .4.4 Semantic Deviation (Metaphorical Deviation)Stanza 1.This poem has the unified metaphorical deviation. In stanza 1, the name has a double meaning; “anyone” could be “anyone” in the dictionary definition sense, and could be seen as a singular entity, reinforcing the theme of isolation the independent individual has from the rest of society. The events all occur in a “pretty how town”. “pretty” implies a mere façade, describing superficiality of the town's inhabitants. “how”, an adverb, is used as an adjective here. It could be describ ing the extent of the town‟s prettiness, but a better reason is that it describes the routine humdrum of the town's activities, since “how” also means “in a method or manner”.Stanza 2. The women and men of the next stanza are described as “little and small”, referring not to their physical size but their capacit y and willingness to explore new dimensions. They do not attempt anything (sowed their isn’t) outside their known habits (they reaped their same). The next line is a list of heavenly bodies and weather conditions, signifying the fact that the townspeople never change their standardized routines even when other things do.The third stanza introduces characters common to Cummings‟ works. He viewed children as innocent, and because of their innocence, can see the love “noone” has for “anyone‟s” individuality. Again, “noone‟s” name has a double meaning, expressing the degree of “noone‟s”love (more by more) as well as “anyone‟s” intense isolation from the rest of society. The children‟s ability to see t his love fades with the passing of time as they get older, and it is interesting to note that the list of seasons this time starts with autumn. Autumn leads into winter, which is often a symbol of death and sleep. The seasons describing anyone started with spring, which is a symbol of rebirth and change, characteristic of his personality.Stanzas 4-5: “noone” and “anyone” live spontaneously for the present (when by now), gaining large advances from small things (tree by leaf). Cummings considers risks as tiny compared to the possibilities resulting from pushing boundaries. “tree by leaf” could also be referring to parts as the sum of a whole, suggesting the depth of “anyone” and “noone‟s”shared experiences. “noone”partakes in all of “anyone‟s” activities, laughing and crying with him. She does this through all circumstances. The symbols “bird”and “snow” describe the seasons as opposed to an obvious list, contrasting “anyone‟s” abstract creativity with society‟s literal inflexibility. “Stir by still” illustrates rest and motion, but the “by” implies that even at rest, the couple was dynamic. The next line, “anyone‟s any was all to her” explains how much “noone” loved everything about “anyone”, as well as reiterating the isolation motif.The non-specific “someones” marrying their “everyones” shows Cummings‟ attitude towards the institute of marriage. Note that “anyone” and “noone” have love, but they are not married. Marriage is a social convention (did their dance) that does not necessarily have anything to do with love. The next paradoxical line, “laughed their cryings”, is an example of these ordinary couples‟ lack of understanding of each other, implying at best, an incomplete type of love. It also suggests insensitivity, in that they laugh at other peopl e‟s cryings, and confusion about their own misfortunes, laughing at themselves. “did their dance” is an inversion of anyone‟s “danced his did”, another example contrasting “anyone” with “everyone”. The townspeople continue their cycle of sleeping, waking, and hoping, although hope achieves nothing as long as they say “their nevers”. They restrict their hopes and dreamsto the realm of sleep (slept their dream).Stanza six describes the passage of time, as the children grow up and become “everyones”. The snow archetype is present here again, symbolizing the end of children‟s innocence, as they “forget to remember” the happiness anyone achieves, opting for society‟s mechanical activities.The narrator tells us of “anyone‟s” death with a resigned apathy. He k nows that this event will not change the townspeople. It also evokes the unconcern the townspeople have for “anyone”, how they allow events to merely pass by. The double meaning of “noone” is used again to display this detachment (noone stooped to kiss his face). “anyone” and “noone” are buried together, their physical bodies returning to dust (earth by april), but they become part of a shared dream (dream their sleep).The townspeople take no notice of this and continue their fruitless cycle. When they die, they achieve nothing (r eaped their sowing, when they sowed nothing in the second stanza).They merely become dust and disappear forever (went their came), as opposed to “anyone”and “noone”, who achieve immortality much like the eternal sun, moon, and s tars. There are very few breaks in the poem - only two periods, each occurring before “Women and men”.This is a disruption in the poem, perhaps signifying the townspeople as an aberration in the order of the universe, and “anyone” and “noone” being more a kin to it, blending in. The poem does not begin with a capitalized letter, nor does not end with a period, showing that the cycle begins where it left off.The most striking pattern is obviously the revolution of the seasons, which is indicated by the rotating list of their names. With each of the abstract terms the poet associates a natural phenomenon characterizing the particular season on the sensuous level of human experience so that one may stand emblematically for the other: sun---summer; moon---autumn; stars--- winter; rain--- spring. Their vertical sequence in the poem corresponds to our anthropological expectations and yearnings: spring (3), summer (“sun”8), autumn (11), winter (“stars” 21), summer (34), summer (“sun” 36)...4.5 RepetitionCummin gs‟ most important structuring devices in this poem are refrains and repeated grammatical patterns. Three of the refrains are two strings of four nouns, the first series referring to the seasons (natural order “spring summer autumn winter,” is chosen when anyone is introduced in stanza 1, then those same words in a different order in stanza 2 and stanza 3) with the description;the second series referring to more specific natural phenomena, all related to the sky (“sun moon stars rain” in lines 8 and 36, and a variant order of these nouns in line 21).When “Women and men”are discussed, the natural order are used, and when children forget to treasure their individuality, the order is changed into “stars rain sun moon”, but when children grew up and became “Women and men”, it resumes original order. Another refrain, “with up so floating many bells down” (line 2) is repeated exactly in line 24. Both times the phrase is in parentheses.。