Poetic Comparison of Shelley and Term Paper

e. cummings seems to embody an American ideal, that of the wild cowboy who admits no compassion and no law into his code of ethics, a showman who rides a: "watersmooth-silver / stallion/and break onetwothreefourfive pigeons justlikethat / Jesus." The creator of the "Wild West Show" that made spectacles of violence attractive and engaged in shameless self-promotion can perhaps be best embodied in a figure like Arnold Schwarzenegger, an action movie hero that took his celebrity to new levels, entering politics and making violence seem cartoon-like, fun and almost wholesome and American.As an American archetype of entertainment and culture, despite the title of cumming's poem, Buffalo Bill is anything but "defunct." Although the cowboy is no longer as glorified as it was in American society during Buffalo Bill's day, the affection for lawless, violent men who possess charm and showmanship lives on.

Works Cited cummings, e.e. "Buffalo Bill's Defunct." 19 Mar 2008. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/buffalo-bill/

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "Ozymandias." 19 Mar 2008. http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/672.....