One of the most popular poets of the 20th century, his verses have inspired countless readers. His total body of work includes nearly 3,000 poems. He preferred his name abbreviated in all lowercase letters.
The son of Edward Cummings, a Unitarian minister of the South Congregational Church in Boston, and Rebecca Haswell Clarke. Cummings's mother encouraged him from an early age to write verse and to keep a journal. He was educated at the Cambridge Latin School and at Harvard College, where in 1915 he received his A.B., graduating magna cum laude in Greek and English; he received his M.A. from Harvard in 1916.