Anyone lived in a pretty how town
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- The correct title of this article is anyone lived in a pretty how town. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
"anyone lived in a pretty how town" is a poem written by E.E. Cummings. First published in 1940, the poem details the lives of residents in a nameless town. [1] Like much of Cummings's work, the poem is actually untitled, so critics use the first line to refer to the poem. Cummings often wrote in a manner that did not follow standard English syntax and punctuation. This style is evident in the poem's first line, which is written in all lowercase letters and contains the unlikely phrase 'pretty how town'.
The text of the poem is available at Poets.org
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[edit] Summary
The poem is about a man named anyone who lives his life unloved and ignored by most of the people in society. The only person who cares about anyone is a woman called no-one. The poem talks about how most people just kept on living their life, but sleeping “their dreams.” Eventually, anyone dies and no-one is heart broken. However, society just keeps going. When no-one dies, the townspeople bury them “side-by-side.” Life goes on.[citation needed]
[edit] Metaphorical meaning
The metaphorical meaning is symbolic of everyday life. Anyone, really could be anyone. The character is full of life, “he sang his didn’t he danced his did” (4). However, society doesn’t appreciate anyone (both the character and any one person). This is shown by the line, “they cared for anyone not at all”(6). Since the society cares about nobody but himself or herself, they don’t live fulfilled lives; “[society] said their nevers they slept their dreams”(20). Meanwhile, anyone and no-one care about each other “no-one loved him more by more”(13). This can be taken in a variety of ways: ether no-one is nonexistent or no-one is really just like anyone. There is also another couple in the poem- someone's and everyone's. They serve as exact opposites of anyone and no-one. Those characters lived unfulfilled lives. They just pretend, “[they] laughed their cryings and did their dance”(18). They are also hopeless; “They said their nevers and slept their dreams”(20). When no-one and anyone die, life goes on as usual; “busy folk buried them side by side”(27). No one cared, so life went on. Yet, even in death no-one and anyone were better off in death because they weren’t as self-centered, “and more by more they dream their sleep/no-one and anyone earth by April/wish by spirit and if by yes” (30/32).[citation needed]
[edit] Style
The author used repetition to show the effects of time. In the poem, Cummings states the lines, “spring summer autumn winter,”(3) and “sun moon stars rain,”(8) repeatedly. Cummings did this to show the passage of time. In repeating these lines he changes the order of the seasons or celestial images, “autumn winter spring summer,”(11) and “stars rain sun moon,”(21). This shows that the times are changing but so are the people.[citation needed]
[edit] Film
| Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George Lucas |
| Written by | George Lucas E. E. Cummings Paul Golding |
| Starring | John Strawbridge Nancy Yates Lance Larson |
| Music by | Lynton B. Eckhart |
| Cinematography | George Lucas |
| IMDb profile | |
The poem was adapted into a short film by George Lucas. [2]
[edit] References
- ^ anyone lived in a pretty how town at NYU's Literature, Arts and Medicine Database. New York University. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
- ^ anyone lived in a pretty (how) town at the USC School of Cinema-Television. University of Southern California. Retrieved on September 20, 2006.
[edit] External links
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