E.E. Cummings once stated: “who proudly and humbly affirms that love is the mystery of mysteries…that 'an artist, a man , a failure' is… a naturally and miraculously whole human being… whose only happiness is to transcend himself, whose every agony is to grow.” Cummings describes love as a mystery in the quote. He sees it as something extraordinary that is difficult to achieve, but once love is achieved a person can be happier than ever. Cummings continued to display the idea of ​​wanting affection throughout his life and through two specific poems, "l(a" and "Since Feeling is First". Cummings' poem focuses on his desire for intimacy and affection because he lacked both in his life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Cummings' work was very representative of the intimacy Cummings desired, which refers to being in a relationship, personal relationship with a person, and affection, which also refers to the idea of ​​intimacy. The lack of intimacy and affection can be traced back to his many marriages, a biography of Cummings' life. Norman Friedman writes: “The first was to Elaine Orr, with whom he had an affair before their marriage…” Subsequently Friedman also adds: “Their daughter Nancy was born in 1919, but the marriage broke down and Cummings lost all legal rights to the child, who was raised completely separate from him…” Cummings' first marriage did not end well and the fact that his daughter was taken away from him could have been a stressor on his emotional state. Cummings may have felt he couldn't show affection because once he did, his daughter and wife left. Having a child taken away from a person causes emotional distress, which could result from a lack of affection. Cummings had two subsequent marriages but, as Friedman reveals, "he married Anne Barton, but their relationship ended..." His last marriage to Marion Morehouse; however, it lasted the rest of his life. The fact that he was never satisfied with just one marriage demonstrates his lack of intimacy. Cummings has experienced other traumatic events in his life. Another hardship in Cummings' life included being "taken to a concentration camp..." as Robert K. Martin stated in Cummings' biography. This period of Cummings' life was very difficult for him because he was taken to a concentration camp and learned about the trials that many people were going through. This experience may have been due to a lack of affection. Later, Martin points out that both Cummings and William Slater Brown “were drafted in the summer of 1918 and sent to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, for training as infantry soldiers.” Since they were sent into the infantry, the two men could have experienced many hardships. This experience would affect his ability to show love and affection. The traumatic events would play a role in his future relationships and his poetry. Cummings' poem "l(a" refers to his desire for intimacy and affection. The poem describes a leaf falling from a tree. The words "a falling leaf" are placed in parentheses in the poem. Outside the parenthesis the word "solitude" is depicted. All the words are written vertically with two letters or characters on each line. The only line in the poem where this rule does not apply is the final line of the poem which contains five letters. The theme of this particular poem is loneliness as a destructive force. The poem represents isolation. Poetry for Students makes valid points when describing this isolation in thepoem explaining that the word "one" is used over and over in the poem They also explain how the entire poem itself is shaped like the number one. This is very important to represent the loneliness experienced in the poem. The feeling of being alone may have been the reason for his desire for intimacy and affection. Cummings expresses the thought of “one” throughout the poem, which shows that he was alone and wanted that feeling of belonging. Napierkowski and Ruby also explain that the words in brackets alternate between consonant/vowel/vowel and consonant/consonant/vowel. They describe it as the leaf slowly falling or spinning to the ground. The leaf falls by itself, by itself. When the leaf falls it dies because it leaves the tree that provides its source of nutrients. When the leaf falls it is alone, this shows a desire for affection because no one wants to die alone. If people could die together, they would. In reference to the desire for intimacy and affection, John Artthos describes Cummings' poetry by explaining: “Love and lovers, not only traditionally but also as a logical consequence of the speaker's thoughts, are seen against the backdrop of, and in harmony with, nature and natural process...". This is clearly related to the fact that the main purpose of the poem "l(a" is to connect the aspects of affection, or love, to the idea of ​​nature. In the case of this poem the aspect of nature includes the leaf that the process of the leaf falling is also dying, which describes the natural process that Artos is referring to. Artthos then goes on to also describe the reasoning for Cummings' language by explaining the reason for the change of words and the use of non-punctuation. conventional as a way to change the English language is to represent Cummings emotions. In the poem he puts the word loneliness separate from everything else. This is a way of expressing his emotions of loneliness to any ordinary poem by any other author, which is different from most of Cummings' other poems The poem has stanzas that consist of two to four lines his other poem. Cummings conveys the theme of love and affection very effectively throughout the poem. The main theme of the poem includes love and affection. The feeling and manifestation of love is directly linked to his desire for intimacy and affection. The fact that the poem is easier to read than most of his other works shows the feeling of love, which should be light and airy. The poem itself makes many references to the physical side of affection. Poetry for Students describes Cummings' poetry by stating, "he claims that a person's emotional response happens first." The poem explains many affectionate instances which include kissing and hugging a woman. This refers to his desire for intimacy because he desires the affection and love of this specific woman. Later in the poem Poetry for Students continues to explain, “In the third stanza…He argues that a physical relationship, symbolized by kisses, is more important than the acquisition of wisdom.” The fact that Cummings believes that a physical relationship, which involves affection and intimacy, succumbs to the need for wisdom shows how important affection is to him. It also shows that Cummings, above all, wants the women in the poem to show him affection. Cummings' poem, "Since Feeling is First," was written during a time in his life when he longed for intimacy and affection. The exploration of the poem reiterates the fact that Cummings was indeed in a very messy divorce while writing the poem. The critique then goes on to state that “'since feeling comes first' clearly celebrates – and even supports – feeling over thought, action over thought..