This is me...

Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in all lowercase letters as e. e. cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, an autobiographical novel, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular. In 1917, Cummings' first published poems appeared in the anthology Eight Harvard Poets. The same year, Cummings left the United States for France as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I. Five months after his assignment, however, he and a friend were interned in a prison camp by the French authorities on suspicion of espionage (an experience recounted in his novel, The Enormous Room) for his outspoken anti-war convictions.
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Cummings is my favourite poet because he has a great style of writing. The poems that he had written were filled with expression and much variation. He is an outstanding person and and was gifted in writing. His first poem was composed when he was only three years old. It was depicting the life of a bird. His poems are mostly written in the form of hyperbole and personification. The words he used wasn't grand or sophisticated. He likes to repeat and emphasise on some verses; to bring out or enhance the context. I think he supposedly wants to create a bigger impression for the readers and let us imagine of the image for ourselves in our minds. The poems he wrote were mostly in English, but he also composed poems in other languages, such as French and Greek. Cummings was involved in World War 1 and was patriotic and religious. The content he wrote were mostly about war and relationships. He changed his style of writing after his father departed in a car accident. He began to treasure life more and this can be seen in his poems. His most famous poems were 'The Enormous Room' and 'Tulips and Chimneys'. In 1952, his alma mater, Harvard, awarded Cummings an honorary seat as a guest professor. The Charles Eliot Norton Lectures he gave in 1952 and 1955 were later collected as i: six nonlectures. Cummings spent the last decade of his life traveling, fulfilling speaking engagements, and spending time at his summer home, Joy Farm, in Silver Lake, New Hampshire. He died on September 3, 1962, at the age of 67 in North Conway, New Hampshire of a stroke. [13] His cremated remains were buried in Lot 748 Althaea Path, in Section 6, Forest Hill Cemetery and Crematory in Boston. In 1969, his third wife, Marion Morehouse Cummings, died and was buried in an adjoining plot: Lot 748, Althaea Path, Section 6.

Sources: http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/e__e__cummings

Below is the poem 'I know why the caged bird sings' by Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.
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Q1: In the first verse, there is presence of personification and hyperbole. The poet illustrates the wind to be smooth flowing and the free bird filled with boldness and courage. The emotions of the free bird is significantly exaggerated when the poet indicated that it dares to claim the sky. This effect is to express the carefree of the bird. The second verse compares the free bird with a caged bird; the latter being restricted in agony. There is personification and metaphor. The anger accumulated in the caged bird was overbearing and how he longed himself to be freed and let its wings soar in the sky. His singing are actually the moaning of his pain. Through the third and fourth verses, the poet continues to widen the difference of the two kinds of birds. The caged, about to lose its sanity and patience, sings out loud with a trace of fear and determination; whereas the free bird continues to enjoy its freedom and is quietly searching for its preys when the sun rose. At the fifth verse, hyperbole is mostly seen. the caged bird could not tolerate anymore, he wanted to be freed. All the anger and pain will erupt any moment. But the truth is, his fate is sealed. This is his destiny. Through the defiance, every thing remained in its state. This is eminent in the last verse, where the caged bird slowly begin the succumb and finally, loses hope.

Q2: I like this poem as it strongly expresses the difference in personalities and destinies. This poem also shows how the weaker ones or people at a disadvantage strongly fight back for the lives they want. The spirit and will is totally overwhelming. However, the poet ended this poem with a sad ending. I think this is rather real, as sometimes fate is really sealed. What is yours is yours; you can't possibly change. This also gives as an inspiration that no matter what, we must always try. The results may vary with the condition of trying. The caged bird will never know whether it can escape, unless it tries. Trying is important, very important...