Paternal Influence in E.E. Cummings and Dylan Thomas

Introduction: Story, Connection, and the Writing Self

Every writer has a different story — a unique path taken to become a writer or to identify as one. Many are born with natural talent while others struggle to learn the craft. It is this internal story, an array of experiences, that makes the writer who they are and influences what and how they write. Early on, a writer recognizes the need to convey that story, and a connection is born. This connection begins at a fundamental level of human sociology, where the use of story is central. Howard Gardner reflects, "the ultimate impact of the writer depends most significantly on the particular story that he or she relates or embodies, and the reception to that story on the part of the audiences" (14). By telling stories, a writer allows for a certain level of openness and vulnerability that makes them human.

In many ways, poems are snippets of stories told to evoke emotion and pursue greater levels of thought. The act of writing poetry is deeply personal and draws upon the writer's many influences. This paper focuses on the works of E.E. Cummings and Dylan Thomas as they pertain to paternal influences, exploring how each poet's relationship with his father influenced and inspired his work. By comparing the two views of paternal and filial relationships, one walks away with a better understanding of the writers' choices and the poetry's inner meaning.

E.E. Cummings and the Paternal Muse

First, it is useful to define the key terms. Paternal refers to a relationship between parent and child — an experience every person encounters at some point in life. Filial takes this definition a step further: the term literally means having the relation of a child or offspring, describing the bond between two generations that carries with it an expectation of connection and, historically, of obedience. In the context of this paper, the two terms are largely interchangeable.

Cummings's family life, and his father in particular, influenced his work greatly. Eich writes that his father was "a most constant source of awe," and that Cummings "took his father's pastoral background and used it to preach in many of his poems" (1). It was upon his father's death, however, that Cummings entered a new poetic stage. Because his family was very important to him and they were extremely close, his father's death sobered him and turned his attention toward the more essential facets of life. Cummings felt inspired to help his mother survive her grief through tribute poetry. Rather than approaching the subject of death with darkness and gloom, his main objective was to celebrate life — a coping mechanism he hoped would comfort her. Through his words, he paints a profound sense of spirituality. Eich explains, "His parents are described as strong and determined spirits, yet they have a comforting demeanor. Cummings truly loved his parents, and had a sense of closure knowing that with his mother's death, the two were finally together" (2).

In "my father moved through dooms of love," Cummings pays tribute to the man who inspired him to write. The poem paints vivid images of his father's peaceful nature. By reflecting on his father's personality, Cummings both mourns and finds peace. He compares the effect his father had on people to something elemental: "feel the mountains grow. / Lifting the valleys of the sea / my father moved through griefs of joy." Sometimes it is too late to see a parent for what they truly were until after death. Cummings expresses this realization with the lines "joy was his song and joy so pure / a heart of star by him could steer / and pure so now and now so yes / the wrists of twilight would rejoice." Here, Cummings recognizes his father's simple needs as catalysts of joy and acknowledges the wide impact his father had on those around him.

Dylan Thomas: Blindness, Loss, and the Father's Gaze

His use of language is deliberately simple to reflect this quality, as in the line "My father moved through theys of we." Without elaborate description, the phrase paints an image of how his father moved through the world and among people. The capitalization of "My" is also significant: it draws attention to the enduring importance of the poet's relationship with his father even after death.

In "Elegy," Dylan Thomas uses his father's blindness as a lens through which to explore grief and connection. The poem concerns his father's death, but what it ultimately reveals is how Thomas felt about his father and the way their bond shaped his own vision of the world. Because his father was blind, Thomas felt that it fell to him to see on his father's behalf. The following lines from the poem trace this theme: "...broken and blind he died / ... / the darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed / ... / Veined his poor hand I held, and I saw / Through his unseeing eyes ... / Out of his eyes I saw the last light glide / ... / and old blind man is with me where I go / Walking in the meadows of his son's eye."

The opening of this sequence establishes blindness as a defining condition, and the subsequent lines return to it repeatedly through images of darkness. The poem then shifts to something more intimate: Thomas sees through his father's eyes, as expressed in "I see / Through his unseeing eyes." This creates a profound connection between the two men. The final line — "Walking in the meadows of his son's eye" — completes the reversal: Thomas felt that his father was, in some sense, living through him, just as Thomas felt he was living through his father. Dylan Thomas, looking through his father's eyes, constructs a world that belongs to both of them simultaneously.

Conclusion

This paper focused on the works of E.E. Cummings and Dylan Thomas as they pertained to paternal influences. It explored how the relationship each poet had with his father influenced and inspired his poetry. By comparing the two views of paternal and filial relationships, one walks away with a better understanding of the writers' choices and a deeper appreciation of the poetry's inner meaning. Cummings turned grief into celebration, honoring his father's gentle spirit through joyful language. Thomas, by contrast, channeled grief into urgency, wrestling with blindness, mortality, and the desperate wish for more time. Together, they demonstrate how profoundly the father-son bond can shape a poet's voice and vision.