Anyone lived in a pretty how town

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. 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 letter... more

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. 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'. Central to an adequate understanding of this poem is the realization that there are, in fact, only two main characters: anyone and no-one. Despite the implication of their names, they are the only characters who have uniqueness and individuality. Cummings emphasizes this difference by describing the actions of anyone and no-one in relation to the conformist townspeople around them. Anyone "danced his did" and "dream[t] his sleep" while the monotonous townsfolk "did their dance" and "slept... less