The Formal Deviant: The Innovative Features of E. E. Cummings’s ‘next to of course god america i’

Abstract

This article explores the modernist American poet, E. E. Cummings, and his experimentations with the traditional sonnet form in poetry. E. E. Cummings was an influenced by cubism and used the principles of this form to stylize his poetry. He changed the nature of the sonnet form, as seen in his political poem and satire, ‘Next of course god america i’, which this article will explore through close reading and literary analysis.