Breaking Linguistic Boundaries: Stylistic Innovation in E. E. Cummings’ Love is More Thicker Than Forget

Abstract

This study presents a stylistic analysis of the poem “Love is more thicker than forget” by E. E. Cummings through the theoretical perspectives of H. G. Widdowson and M. A. K. Halliday. The research investigates how Cummings manipulates language, structure, and poetic deviation to foreground the complexity and paradoxical nature of love. Drawing on Widdowson’s stylistic approach, the study examines the relationship between linguistic choices and literary interpretation, focusing on lexical deviation, syntactic irregularities, semantic ambiguity, and graphological experimentation. Simultaneously, Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics framework is employed to exp lore the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions embedded in the poem. The analysis reveals that Cummings intentionally disrupts conventional grammatical structures and employs paradoxical imagery to challenge traditional representations of love and emotion. The study further demonstrates how stylistic deviation contributes to thematic depth, emotional intensity, and reader engagement. By integrating Widdowson’s interpretative stylistics with Halliday’s functional linguistic model, the paper highlights the interconnectedness of form and meaning in poetic discourse. The findings suggest that the poem’s unconventional style is not merely aesthetic but serves as a deliberate linguistic strategy to convey the ineffable and multidimensional experience of love. This research contributes to the field of literary stylistics by illustrating the effectiveness of combined linguistic frameworks in uncovering deeper meanings within modern poetry.

Keyword: Stylistics, Poetic Deviation, Foregrounding, Paradoxical Nature, Syntactic Irregularities