Summary

At only eight lines, this poem is fairly brief. The beauty of nature and its good influence on humanity is the major focus of this poem "who are you little i". At the end of the day, the speaker of this poem stands near a window and looks out. He enters a nostalgic condition, recalling times as a youngster when he would sit and watch the sunset. He remembers admiring such beauty as a small lad of approximately five or six years old. It's a marvel he still maintains a young demeanor. This presence is capable of enjoying the evening's beauty. Maybe he wants to come out of his shell, but the responsibilities of his adulthood prevent him from doing so. The poem is divided into two stanzas, each of which has four lines. There is no regular meter or rhyme system in the poem.

The speaker muses on his life throughout the poem, seeking solutions to his doubts regarding identity. He examines all parts of life, from the physical to the spiritual, and wonders if he is genuinely living up to his full potential. The poem depicts the speaker's struggle to realize his actual identity, providing a look into the process of self-discovery. While the speaker talks on the process of becoming something more than what he is now, the poem also touches on themes of development and transition. Finally, the speaker realizes that in order to discover answers to his problems, he must seek within himself.

Understanding the Text

Answer the following questions.

a. Who can be the speaker of this poem?

The speaker in the poem is the poet himself, but we can also consider any adult as a speaker.

b. What is “little i” doing?

This ‘little I’ is watching the sunset of November from a window and thinking about the transformation that has taken in his life from his childhood to adulthood.

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

The ‘little I’ is the past of the speaker when he used to be a young boy without any responsibilities and knowledge about life. Despite that, when he remembers his childhood, he still feels like he is still young for a brief amount of time.

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

The speaker is recalling his childhood when he used to play and enjoy the sunset as a child.

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

The speaker is a little jealous and nostalgic about the child in the poem because even if he wanted to relive that phase of life he could not.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

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

A semicolon is used to join two related independent clauses in a sentence. Here, the use of semicolon indicate two different locations; inside and outside the window. The inside of the window indicates the reality of the adult speaker while the outside of the window indicates the childhood of the speaker. One is filled with tensions of life while the other is carefree.

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

The speaker asks this because he wants to take himself away from stress of adulthood. He wants to take himself to his childhood again through imagination. He may have done so to make himself believe that he is a child again and he is not only imagining. He wants to lie to himself to relive his carefree life once again even though it is an imagination.

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 the day / has to become night / this is a beautiful way)”?

The theme of these lines could be that the speaker is wondering if a person lives his life in happiness and embraces the most unwelcome ending, death, with the beautiful memory of life, then it would be the beautiful way to die.

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

ABAB and CDCD rhyme scheme is used in the poem. Ask your teacher how the rhyme is recognized.

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

A pun is a joke that has underlying meaning. In ‘little i’ the pun is that the lower case of i, which is correctly written in uppercase, shows that even if we think that we have grown strong and powerful, we are still nothing in front of the harsh realities of life and we are those who are bound to the circle of mortality.

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

The use of lower case letters in the poem provides me an insight into the meaninglessness of life and bubble pride of being strong, powerful and wealthy in front of the only reality, death.

REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT

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

The speaker seems to be in stress and wants to relieve his stress. So when he sees the sunset it helps him recall his childhood and takes him into the memory when he was away from all the tensions of life. It rejuvenates him and thinks that if such happiness (day) would end in the night (death) then he believes, it would be the beautiful way to die.

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.

One of my favorite childhood memories is of a day I spent with my folks in a neighboring forest. The sky was a deep blue, with the sun's rays cascading like a curtain through the trees. The beauty and diversity of nature - the colorful flowers, the chattering of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the delicious fragrance of fresh air - overwhelmed me. I felt like I was in another universe, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the metropolis. I felt a strong bond with nature, as if I were in touch with the trees and plants surrounding me. The atmosphere was serene and idyllic. It's a memory I'll never forget.