"Buffalo Bill ’s" by E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings

Buffalo Bill ’s
defunct
          who used to
          ride a watersmooth-silver
                                        stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat

                                                      Jesus
he was a handsome man
                        and what i want to know is
how do you like your blueeyed boy
Mister Death

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This is a poem without title by E. E. Cummings. The Cummings' style is evident in its usage of irregular spacings. To understand the poem, we should know its subject "Buffalo Bill". Buffalo Bill, whose real name is William F. Cody, was a bison hunter and showman in the late 19th century. He was a heroic figure in the American Old West. He was known for its hunting skills and provided bison meat for Kansas Pacific Railroad workers. Later in his life, he began to tour in Europe and the US with his shows of cowboy themes and earned great success.

The tone of the poem is set in the second line with the word "defunct". Why the poet didn't use "dead" ? Because the word "defunct" means to cease existing and functioning. It is a word of indifference and irreverence. Buffalo Bill was "defunct" as anything else and there is neither glory nor pity. People who watched his show can still remember his beautiful stallion and his excellent shootings. "Watersmooth-silver" is an invented term, but it is easy to understand the meanings behind. "Water" and "smooth" are two words to describe the dynamics of the riding. The horse passes smoothly like the water. "onetwothreefourfive" means the succession of shootings . We can imagine the rapidity and accuracy of these shootings. These descriptions form a sharp contrast with the fact of Buffalo Bill being defunct so as to strengthen the fact that everything is equal before the death. No matter how famous you are, even for Buffalo Bill, the death takes away everything.

"Jesus" could be the cries of the crowd, people who admired Buffalo Bill's incredible show. This word stands out in the poem to strengthen the effect of crowd crying. It could be possible that the poet want to remark that "Jesus" is the cries of the crowd, not himself. "handsome" is not only the appearance, but also the action. The last three lines are rather sarcastic. The poet call Buffalo Bill in an irreverent manner, "blueeyed boy". "boy" indicates that Buffalo Bill is in the group of "Mister Death" and he is an subordinate. So the poet triumphs over Buffalo Bill by putting himself in the same rank as "Mister Death" with the appellation "Mister".

Why E. E. Cummings mocked at the death of Buffalo Bill? To understand this, we should put ourselves in the context of the poet's period. In the development of the west, the Americans needed heroes and created their own like Buffalo Bill. The worship of the violence and the heroic deeds influenced even children's education. Nowadays, we still see the popularity of "superman" films in the US. This represents the exaggerated materialism and the worst indulgence in false heroes in the American society. Cummings have been attacking this phenomenon for a long time. In this poem, he bitterly satirized one of these "heroes", Buffalo Bill. The death of the hero is a disillusion for people who have worshiped him.

“may i feel said he” by E. E. Cummings

“may i feel said he”

E.E. Cummings

may i feel said he
(i’ll squeal said she
just once said he)
it’s fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she

(let’s go said he
not too far said she
what’s too far said he
where you are said she)

may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she

may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you’re willing said he
(but you’re killing said she

but it’s life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she

(tiptop said he
don’t stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she

(cccome?said he
ummm said she)
you’re divine!said he
(you are Mine said she)

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E.E. Cummings was an American poet from 1894 to 1962. His body of work encompasses approximately 2900 poems. Cummings wanted to be a poet from childhood and wrote poetry daily aged eight to 22, exploring assorted forms. He went to Harvard and developed an interest in modern poetry which ignored conventional grammar and syntax, aiming for a dynamic use of language. Regarded as one of the most eminent modern poet, he invented his owns ways to use grammar and syntax. So it can be hard to understand the sentence of his poems without the global context. He even uses intentional misspellings in some of his poems. Apart from these eccentric behaviors, Cummings plays with the written format to present his poems in a different way. Like Jackson Pollock who added the gesture movement into the creation of paintings, he mixed the space and words to better express his emotions.[1]

Cummings has also written a great deal of  erotic poems, which accentuate his eccentric characters. But his artistic presentation of this controversial subject is interesting to study. In this poem, he describe a scene where a married man is having an affair with his secret lover. The verses with "said he" and those with "said she" alternate in the whole poem. This gives a good sound effect to the poem when it is read. It is like a theater play, where the actor and the actress talk all the time. In fact, the images jumps just in front of readers because of the detailed words exchange.

I don't know how many people have laughed when they read the line "but your wife said she". Personally, I laughed when I got there. It seemed that I was fooled by the poet for the first half part. At the beginning, it seems a normal lovers' meeting. But almost at the end of the scene, we are told that this a an extra-conjugal affair. When we are still enjoying the tender words and the timid interaction in the love affair, this sentence suddenly make a turn by switching the background of the relation. We may be even kind of accused to have enjoyed these words. If you know the famous painting of Edward Manet "The luncheon on the Grass", this technique is not strange to you. This is not a moral relation, but you have enjoyed it during the first part. So you are scandalized. This meets really well the satirical character of Cummings's poems.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ee_cummings