Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination.” - E.E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings was born on October 14th, 1849 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He lived his life a contradiction. A alcoholic Unitarian minister's son. An American supporting communism. A unorthodox poet with an unwavering loyalty to sonnets. After receiving a master's degree in English from Harvard University, Cummings worked for a french ambulance service during WWI (1914-1948). This ended abruptly, after Cummings and his friend was thrown into jail for his critical comments on the war. After his release from prison, the author published a variety of his work in books, and gave various lectures for the remainder of his life. Cummings work showed great jazz and slang influences beginning with XLI Poems and in 1925.