Poetry Analysis: E.E.Cummings’ “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town”

E.E.Cummings’ poems are noted for their singular use of diction. The poem “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” is penned in iambic metre with rhyme and slant rhyme. Anyone” appears to be the protagonist of the poem. The attribution of a pronoun alone to address him points to his anonymity. It may also stand as a generalization of it being anyone. He was a person always buoyant and in jovial spirits. He remained unaffected by the mechanical routines, or the cycle of seasons. He sang his own songs; and the poet put forth a rhetorical question whether “he didn’t dance his did”?

Women and men both “big and small”did not care for Anyone at all. By the phrase “big and small” the poet may indicate the size physically/ in stature or position. The line:” they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same” implies that they reaped the benefits of their work. On a figurative level, it may signify that they reaped the reward of their good deed and bad deeds respectively. They did this whether: ”sun moon stars rain.” The first part (sun moon) refers to the cycle of day. The second part alludes to the fact whether it was rainy or not; as a day without rain is filled with stars. The fact that whether it was rainy or not also points to whether it was a fertile or barren existence as people continued in their routine disregarding Anyone. The story of Anyone had transformed into as legend as time passed. Some children guessed and some knew that he loved No one as the days passed more and more. And as some children climbed the ladder of time, these memories seem to be left behind. Just as ’when’ is incomplete without ‘now’; and tree is insignificant without leaf, such was her association with him. She multiplied his joys, and divided his sorrows. She was his bird when he was in snow; she was his ‘stir’ when he was ‘still.’

Anyone’s ‘any’ was all to her; meaning Anyone’s universality was all to her. Someones married their everyones, implying that someone married somebody that was everyone to them. They laughed off their sorrows. They slept to wake and hope, for it was ‘hope’ that carried them on. As they came face-to-face with reality, they slept their dream, their hope was set to rest. Now, they said ‘never’ to such immaterial hopes. Stars rain sun moon (and only the snow can begin to explain how children are apt to forget to remember with up so floating many bells down). The speaker asserts how children could afford to forget that tale of Anyone in spite floating many bells down. Therefore these bells serve as a reminder. The image of the snow is an emblem of transitoriness as with ‘ice’. Anyone, one day died as Nonone stooped to kiss his face. The two were buried side by side. They were similar as there were “all by all” there. And the position of the two were “deep by deep”. Their dreams are embedded in their everlasting sleep. No one and Anyone were near one another as earth is to April; as summer enriches the earth. As spirit kindles wish, and as ‘yes’ or fulfillment is to ‘if’. Meanwhile both men and women, ding and dong, meaning people going either way, continued with their sowing and reaping. The ways of the world and routines (summer autumn winter spring) would never cease because of the death of two individuals: Women and men(both dong and ding) summer autumn winter spring reaped their sowing and went their came sun moon stars rain. The world is exclusively centered on the living beings, and not on the dead souls; and therefore the title “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town”. Louis Untermeyer remarks,”If Cummings is scarcely a revolutionary thinker, he is always a surprisingly creative craftsman.”

Rukhaya M.K

A Literary Companion