Who are you, little i : E.E.Cumming

 About the poem

 

“Who are you, little i” is a very short poem written by e.e.cumming in the twentieth century. He was a poet, playwright, and novelist born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1894. He studied at Harvard University. In this very little poem the speaker stands near his window one evening, watching the sunset outside, and recollects his days of childhood.

 

Summary of the poem:

 

This poem opens with the speaker standing near a window and looking out of it, at the end of a day. He goes into a nostalgic mood, recalling his childhood, when he used to watch a sunset thoughtfully.

 

He remembers how he used to enjoy such a beautiful glory of nature when he used to be a little boy of five or six years. It is a wonder that he still has a youthful presence in himself. This presence can recognize the beauty of the evening. 

 

Perhaps in his inner heart, he wants to come out, but his maturity and adulthood don't allow him, to do so. The idea is we can never forget the simplicity and innocence of our childhood days. Here the speaker puts such adult worries like a burden of responsibilities aside and takes a moment to enjoy the beautiful dusk growing into darkness. 

 

The poem may be divided into two parts for the sake of understanding and appreciating it. In the first part, we find the speaker's state of mind recalling the past pleasing moments of his childhood. He is in a nostalgic mood here. In the second part, there comes a transition to both in his mood theme. Now he is in a sad mood. This part describes his liberation from his mood. As he starts talking about the "feeling", till the end, he talks about death. Here the main point is that the speaker welcomes the advent of death in relief better than the sufferings of life.

Understanding the text

 

Answer the following questions.

a. Who can be the speaker of this poem?

The speaker of this poem can be the poet himself. The speaker is the person voicing his words recalling a childhood moment closely connected with nature.

b. What is “little i” doing?

 'Little i' is looking at the beautiful golden sunset of November from a position somewhere by the high window and deeply reflecting on the splendid transformation of the day into the night.

c. What can be the relationship between “little i” and the speaker of the poem?

The relationship between ''little i" and the speaker of the poem can be an outcome of the speaker's memory of childhood experience. Hence, "little i” is the speaker's imaginative self-voicing words in praise of the magnificence of nature. The words convey the speaker's devotion and attachment to the glory and beauty of nature.

d. What is the speaker remembering from his childhood days in the poem? 

The speaker is remembering a remarkable scene of nature from his childhood days in the poem. He imagines himself to be a little boy of five or six years in some high window peering down and enjoying the beautiful golden hue as the day ends and transform slowly into darkness in November.

e. What attitude does the speaker seem to have toward the child in the poem?

The speaker seems to have a positive, lovely, and luring attitude towards the child in the poem. The speaker seems to cherish to reflect on the childhood days. He enjoys having established a connection peering down at the beautiful expanse of nature. He is charmed by the scenic beauty of the golden sunset looking through his childhood's eyes. He seems to cultivate a deep longing to recreate his childhood simplicity and innocence.

 

Reference to the context

a. Why do you think Cummings has placed a semicolon between the words window and at?

I think Cummings has placed a semicolon between the words "window" and "at" to highlight the two different locations. The semicolon in between distinguishes the locations: the former referring to 'inside location' and the latter to 'outside location'. The little boy is sitting inside the window and peering down at the beauty of November's sunset outside the window.

b. If the speaker is the child grown up, why does he ask, “who are you”?

The speaker is grown up, yet he asks, "Who are you" because he feels good to reflect on his childhood simplicity and innocence. He feels relieved from the sufferings and burden of a grown-up man in thinking about his childhood days. He enjoys the pleasures of his carefree childhood days connected with nature when he remembers about the past.

c. In this poem, an adult reflects on the childhood experience. Based on that, what might be the theme of the lines: “(and feeling: that if day / has to become night / this is a beautiful way)”?

In the lines of the poem, we find how an adult reflects on the childhood experience as he imagines a boy peering down the window fascinated at the golden sunset of November. The boy is enthralled by how slowly and quietly a beautiful hue of the day is transformed into the equally quiet darkness of night. He looks surprised at this natural transformation. The lines speak out the thematic essence of the poem which can be that magnificence of nature is beyond human imagination, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and ideas, etc. At the deeper symbolic interpretation of the natural transformation, it can be argued that light of the day stands for active life whereas darkness of night represents the end of life or death. The speaker is either hinting at the end of life to relieve burdens of responsibilities as a man or trying to recreate childhood innocence to lead a carefree life. Certainly, the speaker has a longing to go back into childhood to lead a carefree life possibly because he's tired of the sufferings of an adult's life.

d. What is the rhyme scheme used in the poem?

The rhyme scheme used in the poem is ABAB and CDCD. To note, rhyme is the pattern of consonant sound at the terminal position in each successive line.

e. Explain the pun in “little i” that is related to what he is doing.

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of wordplay that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. In the act of the little i', we identify clever use of a pun. The 'little i' is peering golden sunset of November from some high window. Both the words, 'little i' and 'high' sound alike to establish a rhyming pattern yet they are incompatible as the "little i" peering from "high window" that creates humorous situation.

f. How does Cummings’s use of lowercase letters affect your understanding of the poem? Explain.

Cummings's use of lowercase letters affect my understanding of the poem because of lack of punctuation, unconventional use of lowercase letters, spacing, and sentence structure create difficulties in understanding and appreciating the subject matter of the poem. Grammatically, the poet has followed a deviated and wrong method of writing that adds confusion in grasping meanings.

 Reference beyond the text

a. How does nature inspire the speaker in “who are you, little i”? Explain.

Nature inspires the speaker to a great extent in this particular poem. The beauty and magnificence of nature have inspired him to recall his beautiful childhood experience. He imaginatively recreates himself as a little boy of five or six years old peering at the beautiful golden sunset and feeling overwhelmed at the beautiful way of the transition of the day into the night.

b. Recall a childhood moment when you felt closely connected with nature. Describe the time and place as well as your feelings and thoughts about it.

The most interesting moment in my life was the day when I visited a zoo and saw an elephant for the first time. It was a visit organized by my alma mater when I was a seventh-grader. The animal was in its herd and confined in a big stretch of grassy land. An overhead bridge across the breath of the patch facilitated onlookers to view the animal at close quarters. I was amazed finding the huge animal which was like a buffalo in size and color. I kept watching it for a long time. I felt lucky to get the chance to see it. The beautiful scene of the animal is still vivid in my life. I wish I could visit the park again to have a glimpse of the animal.