This selection made by E.E. Cummings himself from eleven books of poems constitutes a comprehensive introduction to his work. E. E. Cummings (1894-1962) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His first book, The Enormous Room (1922), was inspired by his imprisonment during the First World War. He published twelve volumes of poetry, the first of which was Tulips and Chimneys (1923). His Complete Poems: 1910-1962 was published in 1980.