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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. Cummings and e e Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright.

He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays, and several essays. He is often regarded as one of the most important American poets of the 20th century.

Cummings is associated with modernist free-form poetry. Much of his work has idiosyncratic syntax and uses lower-case spellings for poetic expression.

Thanksgiving (1956) by E.E. Cummings

a monstering horror swallows
this unworld me by you
as the god of our fathers' father bows
to a which that walks like a who

but the voice-with-a-smile of democracy
announces night & day
"all poor little peoples that want to be free
just trust in the u s a”

suddenly uprose hungary
and she gave a terrible cry
"no slave's unlife shall murder me
for i will freely die”

she cried so high thermopylae
heard her and marathon
and all prehuman history
and finally The UN

"be quiet little hungary
and do as you are bid
a good kind bear is angary
we fear for the quo pro quid"

uncle sam shrugs his pretty
pink shoulders you know how
and he twitches a liberal titty
and lisps "i'm busy right now"

so rah-rah-rah democracy
let's all be as thankful as hell
and bury the statue of liberty
(because it begins to smell)

This is E.E. Cummings' famous poem on American behavior during the Cold War, when after encouraging Hungarians to rise up against Soviet oppression, the United States abandoned them to be crushed by Moscow.