Table of Contents
Prologue: "Only my door closing" 1
I Cambridge: 1894-1911
1 Beyond the River 7
2 The Reverend 16
3 The Last Summer of Childhood 23
II Harvard: 1911-1916
4 Temptations 33
5 A World of Aesthetes 42
6 Rebellion Stirs 51
7 Pagan Harvard 58
8 Doris and Elaine 68
9 Harvard in New York 76
III Montmartre: May 8, 1917-June 15, 1917
10 Across 87
11 Marie Louise Lallemand 95
12 "a twilight smelling of Vergil" 107
13 Sin 117
IV The Front: June 15, 1917-September 21, 1917
14 Called for Service 127
15 At the Front 132
16 Driving Cars and Cleaning Mud 141
17 Mr. Anderson Tells Some Lies 154
V La Ferté-Macé: September 21, 1917-December 19, 1917
18 At Noyon Once More 165
19 Life Under les Plantons 174
20 Time Stands Still 185
21 Tyranny 196
VI Freedom
22 Berthe 207
23 The Good Offices of Mr. Wiley 214
24 Camp Devens (July 23, 1918-January 17, 1919) 224
25 Elaine 234
26 The Porcupine Hunt (July 1956) 251
Author's Afterword 259
Acknowledgments 261
A Note on Previous Biographies of Cummings 263
Glossary of Minor Characters 269
Recommendations for Further Reading 273
Notes on the Text 275
Bibliography 317
Credits 325
Index of Poems Cited 329
General Index 331