"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".
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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, "autumn winter spring summer", (11) and "stars rain sun moon", (21).
| 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 |
| Distributed by | University of Southern California |
| Running time | 6 min. |
| Language | English |
The poem was adapted into a short film by George Lucas. Released in 1967, the film was shot in color but with no lighting. This film was not Lucas's favorite film compared to his other acclaimed films like Herbie, Freheit, Look at Life, or The Emperor quoting, "it doesn't mean anything". Lucas wrote and filmed the short film as an expression of pure cinema using nonstory, noncharacter approach expressing emotions purely through cinema.[2]