Who are you, little i? by E.E Cummings
- E(dward) E(stlin) Cummings often styles as E. E. Cummings was an American poet born on October 14, 1894, in Cambridge, United States.
- 20th-century American poet was well known for his experimentation and innovation in his writings.
- Some of his creations: Since feeling is first, Tulips and chimneys, No thanks, The enormous room, 95 poems, Little tree, In just Spring, Santa Claus: A Morality, and many more.
- He died on September 3, 1962.
FEATURES OF HIS POETRY
Ø Use of lower case and abandonment of upper case, no spacing or multiple spacing. Use of parenthesis or brackets.
Ø Neologism: Coinage of new words.
Ø Typography: Arrangement of the words to create the pictorial effect.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE POEM
• The poem ‘ who are you, little i? describes the relationship between beautiful nature and its positive effect on humans.
• The speaker of the poem is E. E. Cummings himself.
• The poet addresses himself in the form of his own inner child in the poem.
• The speaker remembers his childhood days when he was a child as he looked at the setting sun in November through the window.
• The rhyme scheme in the poem is ABAB and CDCD.
• Poem consists of 1 stanza.
• There are altogether 8 lines in the poem.
•
The character is little I which represents the speaker’s childhood.
• Time setting is an evening in November.
• Place setting is room.
Poem
who are you, little i
(five or six years old)
peering from some high
window; at the gold
of November sunset
(and feeling: that if the day
has to become night
this is a beautiful way)
SYMBOLISM
Ø Day has been symbolized as life.
Ø Night has been symbolized as death.
Ø Setting the sun is tending to be symbolic of endings.
Apostrophe
An apostrophe is a literary device in which a writer or speaker addresses an absent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and can understand. Little ‘i’ in the poem is an apostrophe.
PUNCTUATIONS
Ø Cummings often uses parenthesis to create intimacy between his speaker and another, by way of direct address.
Ø Parenthesis has been used in the second and sixth lines of the poem.
Ø Poet has used a semicolon (;) between the words window and at to create
pictorial effects in the mind of the readers. This semicolon suggests two
different locations i.e. outside of the window and inside the room.
Ø The colon(:) divides the poem into two parts. The first phase is the speaker in a nostalgic mood while the second phase is a speaker in a pensive mood.
INTERPRETATION OF THE POEM
The poem can be interpreted in two parts based on their meanings:
(The first part of the poem from the first to the fifth line is about the speaker recollecting his childhood moments. The speaker is in a nostalgic mood in the first phase of the poem.)
The poem begins with a poet's question who are you little i? No doubt the ‘ little i’ is the speaker’s childhood version of perhaps five or six years old. Instead of using uppercase I, the poet uses lowercase I i.e little I as a self-reflection of him as a small child as well as ‘little I’ indicates him being inferior in front of time. The speaker is probably standing near a window and gazing at the golden sunset of November outside at the end of the day.
The sight of the beautiful sunset makes him feel closely connected with nature. Suddenly nostalgia hits him and the speaker starts to recall his beautiful childhood days when used to enjoy the beautiful nature when he was a young boy. Probably he realizes that now he cannot enjoy the pleasing moments of nature the same ways he used to do as a young child because with the passage of time, maturity and responsibilities have increased too.
He identifies his youthful presence inside of himself but adulthood had buried it deep down. Despite the worries and pressure of adulthood he tries to keep them aside and adores the beauty of nature.
(In the second phase of the poem from the sixth to the last line transition takes place in the mood of the speaker. From nostalgia, the speaker goes to a gloomy mood and till the end, he talks about death.)
Here the second phase of the poem can be interpreted in two ways:
Firstly, it reflects the child’s excitement at the transformation of the day into night. The child is capable of perceiving the beauty and wonder in nature. Therefore, for him, this transition from day to night is something beautiful. Secondly, it can be interpreted as a grown-up speaker’s desire to see the end of his life. The word day in the poem refers to death while the night refers to death. The replacement of day by the night is the speaker to desire for the replacement of his life by death which he finds beautiful and peaceful. He is kind of sad that his life has to end somebody. He then realizes that death is the absolute truth and he accepts it. He consoles himself and states that if the day has to become night this is a beautiful way as this is the only truth and he has lived his life fully.
SUMMARY
In this very little poem the speaker stands near his window, watching the sunset. Suddenly he goes back to his childhood days and remembers how he used to find joy in these beautiful moments. Now all such pleasure and joys have been suppressed by the responsibilities but even then he tries to feel relieved by keeping his worries aside. He is in a joyful mood. Suddenly as he sees the setting sun, the grown-up speaker realizes one day even his life has to end. This makes him depressed but by accepting the death as final truth he comforts himself.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
We never forget the beautiful memories that we had in our past days. Memories last forever inside a person. As we grow the spellbinding of childhood gets buried under the pressure of adulthood. The ecstasy of nature plays a vital role in redirecting our thoughts and emotions. Life and Death are inseparable concepts. Fear of death rarely strikes our minds in childhood. Generally, in adulthood people are aspirants. As a person ages the fear of death comes along with it. Usually, a person who has lived his life fully is prepared to die at any time. Perhaps the speaker states that this is a beautiful way as he has accomplished the goals in his life.