Poquette has a bachelor's degree in English and specializes in writing about literature. In the following essay, Poquette discusses cummings's use of punctuation in his poem.

Many people first think of cummings's uses of language, especially his odd methods of punctuation, when they think of the poet. In fact, his unconventional approach to poetry inspired the wrath of many conservative critics during his lifetime. As S. V. Baum notes in his 1954 South Atlantic Quarterly article, "E. E. Cummings has served as the indispensable whipping boy for those who are outraged by the nature of modern poetry." Yet, cummings has also been acknowledged, especially recently, as one of the great modern love poets. In turn, the poem, "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond," is often thought of as one of cummings's best love poems. As Robert K. Johnson notes in his 1994 entry on the poem in the...