When I first attempted to read anyone lived in a pretty how town, I actually misread the title and the first line twice. As I type this, my computer wants to change the title to read “Anyone who lived in a pretty town.” Funny enough, that is how I initially read it. I had to pause, remind myself that Cummings is an unconventional poet, and then continue to read the poem. I decided that I would assume that my interpretation of the title was along the lines of Cummings’ intent, but I should immediately be open to an alternate interpretation.
Only on the second line, I recognized the parentheses that Cummings likes to include. I had previously analyzed a Cummings poem with parentheses after each line, and while Cummings didn’t use parentheses quite as often as in that poem, parentheses were still included in seven of the nine stanzas. Cummings’ use in this poem is consistent with his other poems, however. Each time parentheses are used, they add a little bit of information about whatever Cummings had just said. Cummings is speaking to the reader, emphasizing what he just said to ensure the reader understands the implications.
Cummings also uses other devices to reiterate his point: the first being repetitiveness. “sun moon stars rain,” the objects of bells, and “spring summer autumn winter,” are repeated numerous times. It seemed to me that the poem was repeating itself in a loop as opposed to straight repetition. This led to my attempt to understand why Cummings continued to repeat these phrases. First, I looked at each one individually. The sun, moon, stars, and rain cover all the potential possibilities for what can be seen in the sky. At night, the stars can be seen, when it is clear, the sun can be seen, and when it is raining, clouds will be seen, the same as if it were cloudy-the one appearance I originally thought Cummings failed to include. The next repeated phrase was the most straightforward: spring, summer, autumn, and winter are all the seasons. So, I interpreted this as meaning all the time. 
Lastly, the Bells. I thought they were only mentioned twice instead of three times which surprised me because I had begun to know that Cummings likes to be consistent in his poems. I had to look deeper to find the third mention of the bells. In the final stanza of the poem, Cummings includes “both dong and ding” in parentheses. What made this find even more difficult was that I did not realize that dong and ding were referring to bells the first three times I read it. Had Cummings written “both ding and dong,” I would have made the connection to bells right away. Cummings is clever. Whether he intended this line to require multiple reads to comprehend, he successfully got me to become a rereader. These re-reads lead to a minor revelation that started when I tried to decipher the meaning from the poem.
For a Cummings poem, I thought this poem was one of the most straightforward poems that he has written. I was quick to understand the literal content of the poem, but it took me a while to draw meaning from the poem. I was finally able to find meaning during another reread of the second and fifth stanzas. The second stanza states that men and women do not care for anyone at all, and the fifth stanza seemed to list ordinary things monotonously. I literally felt myself become bored reading the fifth stanza compared to the rest of the poem. 
Typically, Cummings writes in an intriguing manner. Some poems won’t even seem like a poem, but with a close look, turn out to be a super creative way to describe a cat. Other poems will have their own interesting features. This poem, however, is written more straightforwardly than I have seen before, all in lowercase, and repeats itself as I’ve said. This poem seemed so unlike Cummings, and I couldn’t figure out why Cummings wrote this poem that way. This led to the overall meaning that I arrived at. Cummings ordinary diction and lack of emphasis on anything interesting and, instead, emphasis on things that are continuous like the seasons, suggested that life is ordinary, monotonous, isolated, and cyclical. 
Once I understood the purpose of the repetition and monotony included Cummings included, I had to look into the few parts of the poem that strayed from the rest because it didn’t sit right with me that the message of the poem was that life is not unique and that I am just part of the cycle and will eventually decompose (something directly mentioned in the eighth stanza). The only parts of the poem that did this were when “noone” was talked about. These parts of the poem were difficult for me to grasp because while I understood that “noone” was actually a woman, it took much longer for me to realize that “anyone” is a man, the main character of the poem. They give each other meaning. Noone “laughed his joy she cried his grief.” At the time of his death, she gave him a kiss farewell. My research concluded that the bells that rang and the time of anyone’s death are a continued symbol for the start, and in this case, the end. The bells are unpreventable but life can be given meaning before they ring one final time.
Cummings never contradicts himself, but holds firm that life is a cycle, starting with bells, ending with bells, starting with birth, ending with death, and decomposing back in the soil. Life becomes meaningful simultaneously when nooone loves anyone and anyone loves noone.
I will start by saying that I also mistyped the title of your poem with the word “who” as well since our brains just default to that for whatever reason. I also chose an E.E. Cummings poem that was not as unique as the one that you chose. His unconventional writing style is so frustrating but will also leave you with a sense of satisfaction if you can actually understand what he is saying. The language is difficult to understand like normal but he does repeat the same usage of literary devices that he does in other poems that he chooses to use parentheses in. I really like this essay you wrote because of the way that you broke down your poem and were able to share your individual thoughts on parts of the poem you thought were most important to mention. The explanation was well done as far as I am concerned. I also was able to find more meaning in the poems of E.E. Cummings by rereading them over and over until something new in my brain was unlocked. The complexity of these poems is pushing both of us to be better at reading and analyzing poetry.
Chris, the title of the poem you chose to analyze sounded familiar to me, and though I have never read it I think I recognized it from somewhere. The title as you mentioned is also phrased very weirdly, and to me the “how” in it really sticks out. I thought that it was so strange that Cummings chose to name the two characters in the poem anyone and noone. I can’t even imagine how confusing that must have been on the first read before you figured it out. It was interesting how you said that the poem made you reread in order to realize things and find meaning that you didn’t see before. With Cummings’ unconventional writing style, I think that this is especially key to understanding his poetry. I also analyzed an E. E. Cummings poem for my difficulty essay, and I noticed similar repetition present in mine. It was crazy that you mentioned seeing the “moon” and “sun” mentioned in your poem, because they were also included in mine. It makes me wonder if Cummings uses similar symbols throughout all of his poetry like he does with his punctuation.
Hi Chris,
I think the theme within the poem of the “love story” emerging between the two named characters “anyone” and “noone” is particularly compelling. On my first read, I also did not really pick up that those were references to two actual characters: I thought it was just Cummings doing something distortive, trying to represent the absence of individuality, the erasure of difference, and the propagation of routine in the town. Of course, I think there is some element of truth to this initial interpretation. The fact that the character’s name is anyone, uncapitalized and nondescript, seems to imply the loss of identity. Because of everyone’s manifest self-interest, he is simply “anyone,” or any other person, to everyone who he does not share a real relationship or connection with.
Further, the romance seems like a clear act of resistance to the social isolation and self-interested behavior of the “someones and everyones.” Cummings portrays those people as unconcerned with the lives of others, instead staying reserved and private. This is in direct contrast with the genuine affection with which Cummings treats their relationship. It reminds me a lot of The Dead, which is a text we read in Honors English 1. In the face of social isolation and a society that is indifferent (“dead”), we need genuine passion, affection, and human connections like the love shared between anyone and noone to live out fulfilling lives.
Hi Chris! I feel like you and I read this poem in a very similar way. Just based on E.E. Cummings poems we have read in class, I knew that whatever my initial instinct was telling me this poem was about, it was likely a million miles away from the true meaning I would have to read with a completely open mind. The speaker’s repetition of certain phrases stood out to me the most, seeing as the most important lines in poems are usually the ones said most frequently. Like you, I did not realize that the ding and dong in the last stanza was a reference to the bell until I read it in your essay. The phrasing of this line makes it seem as if the speaker is comparing women to the “dongs” and men to the “dings, possibly talking about how time has altered the relationship between a man and a woman. Another question I had is about line 5 when the speaker, similar to the phrasing of “dong and ding”, compares women and men to a as “both little and small” respectively. I am still confused why this poem is titled the way that it is and why the speaker uses “noone” instead of the nomal “no one”. I also pattern have questions as to why this specific form of fo poetry was chosen.
Hi Chris! I also had to read the title of couple times and actually glazed off the “how” part many times. I like how you brought up the habits of Cummings’ writing style and added your own train of thought afterward. The parts of repetition are parts I would think would be the easiest to understand but they all still required rereads as you said. When I first saw bells I associated them with wedding bells and happiness but then the monotonous things like the weather contradicted it in a sense. I skimmed the poem and the one thing that stuck out to me most was that Women was basically the only thing capitalized in that entire poem. Cummings’ writing style is one I typically enjoy admiring, rather than analyzing as much of it is visually appealing but so complicated. I thought it was really fascinating that “noone” and “anyone” actually referenced people and that it was not just something silly Cummings decided to do with his writing style. I don’t think I would’ve gotten the part of bells signaling the start of life or death. I like how you referenced the two at the end of your essay as a good closure!