:: Edward Estlin Cummings was born in 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard University and, during World War I, served with an ambulance corps in France. He was also spent three months in a French detention camp and subsequently wrote The Enormous Room, a highly acclaimed criticism of World War I. After the war, Cummings returned to the States and published his first collection of poetry, Tulips and Chimneys, which was characterized by his innovative style: pushing the boundaries of language and form and using a gleeful tone to discuss love, nature and war. He spent the rest of his life painting, writing poetry and enjoying widespread popularity and success. Cummings died in 1962 and Complete Poems, an anthology of all of his poetry, was published in 1968. He is recognized today as one of the most influential and important poets of the twentieth century.