, Contents
Contents 2
Themes 4
Death & the Circle of Life 4
Failure, despair, and hope 5
Poetic devices 5
Irony 5
Enjambment 6
Repetition 7
Hperbole 8
Allusion 8
FORM 9
METER 9
RHYME SCHEME 9
Class notes 9
,e e cummings
- 1894 - 1962
- Iconoclastic - likes to break cherished rules & beliefs - particularly did this with his
syntax (sentence structure & rules of grammar) - for his time, this was incredibly
subversive (going against ingrained beliefs)
- Would invent words, or se them as different parts of speech
nobody loses all the time
i had an uncle named
Sol who was a born failure and
nearly everybody said he should have gone
into vaudeville perhaps because my Uncle Sol could
sing McCann He Was A Diver on Xmas Eve like Hell
Itself which
may or may not account for the fact that my Uncle
Sol indulged in that possibly most inexcusable
of all to use a highfalootin phrase
luxuries that is or to
wit farming and be
it needlessly
added
my Uncle Sol's farm
failed because the chickens
ate the vegetables so
my Uncle Sol had a
chicken farm till the
skunks ate the chickens when
my Uncle Sol
had a skunk farm but
the skunks caught cold and
died and so
my Uncle Sol imitated the
, skunks in a subtle manner
or by drowning himself in the watertank
but somebody who'd given my Uncle Sol a Victor
Victrola and records while he lived presented to
him upon the auspicious occasion of his decease a
scrumptious not to mention splendiferous funeral with
tall boys in black gloves and flowers and everything and
i remember we all cried like the Missouri
when my Uncle Sol's coffin lurched because
somebody pressed a button
(and down went
my Uncle
Sol
and started a worm farm)
Themes
Death & the Circle of Life
● "nobody loses all the time" humorously depicts Uncle Sol's futile attempts at
farming, highlighting a cyclical pattern of failures and deaths.
● Despite the comedic tone, the poem's narrative revolves around various forms of
death—plant, animal, and human.
● Sol's continuous failures ironically underscore the interconnectedness of life and
death, where one's demise nourishes another.
● Even in his own death, Sol unwittingly contributes to the cycle by becoming
"worm food," perpetuating the circle of life.
● Ultimately, the poem emphasizes the inevitability of death and the inescapable
role humans play in the natural cycle, mirroring the fate of all living beings.
❖ Where this theme appears in the poem:
❖ Lines 1-3
❖ Lines 14-38
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