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Who are You Little i ? by E. E. Cummings
Table of Contents
ABOUT THE POEM
SUMMARY & ANALYSIS
In the very first two lines, we find the speaker inquiring about a little 'i' of perhaps five or six years old. Here, in these first two lines, the speaker is addressing himself with a little 'i', who is a little boy of about five or six years old. He has presented himself as a boy recalling his childhood days in connection with nature. Here, 'i' refers to the speaker as a small boy as well as a small being in this beautiful and vast nature. The speaker seems to give more preference to his childhood days and this beautiful and amazing nature.
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Next, in the third, fourth, and fifth lines, we find the little boy's act of peering at the golden sunset of November from some high window. Here, we find the little boy enjoying the beautiful golden sunset. He seems quite fascinated by the wonderful sight of the sunset.
In the last three lines, the boy enjoys the beauty of nature a lot. He feels about the wonderful transformation of day into night in a very beautiful way. He feels closely connected with nature to see the beautiful way of turning the golden colours of the November sunset into the black colours of the nighttime. This is the miracle of great nature.
Here, we find the speaker's deep intimacy and respect for nature. The speaker's deep intimacy with the scenic beauty of nature makes him recall his childhood days, where he found himself as a boy enjoying a beautiful sunset at dusk. He keeps on peering at the golden sunset through some high window. He is completely fascinated to find out the beautiful way of transforming the day into the night.
POINTS TO REMEMBER
▪︎ The beauty of nature is beyond description.
▪︎ Nature has the power to divert people's thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, etc.
▪︎ The poet has recollected his childhood experience of enjoying beautiful nature at dusk.
▪︎ The scene of November's sunset and its golden rays please the speaker very much.
▪︎ We find the speaker's deep longing for this nature.
SHORT SUMMARY
This short poem, "Who are you, little I?" is related to nature and its effect on the speaker. This poem is quite short and includes only eight lines. The main theme of this poem is the non-ultimate freshness of beautiful nature and its positive effect on humans. The poet E. E. Cummings has beautifully described a little boy, his location, and his acts of peering and feeling about beautiful and wonderful nature. He has presented his experience of childhood closely connected with nature. He has presented himself as a little boy of five or six years old who keeps on peering at the beautiful golden sunset of November through some high window and pondering about the wonderful transformation of the day into the night in a very beautiful way.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
BEFORE READING
Answer these questions:
a. Have you ever looked out through a window and taken pleasure in what you saw? If so, what did you look at?
Answer:
Yes, I have looked out through a window and taken pleasure in what I saw. I looked at a fine and colourful rainbow in the sky during monsoon season. I was extremely pleased to find such a clear and beautiful rainbow in the sky.
b. Which beautiful scenes do you think would make you want to look out through the window?
Answer:
I think the beautiful scenes of nature, such as green hills, a beautiful and colourful rainbow in the sky, drizzling rainfall in the jungle, birds flying during the morning, etc., would make me want to look out through the window.
c. Do you write the pronoun ‘I’ capital or small in writing?
Answer:
Yes, I always write the pronoun 'I' in the capital in my writing. Grammar rules teach us that this particular pronoun or letter must be written in capital letters. It shouldn't be written in a small letter; otherwise, it is considered to be wrong in English grammar.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
a. Who can be the speaker of this poem?
Answer:
The speaker of this poem can be the poet (E. E. Cummings) himself. He has presented himself as a little boy here in this poem by recalling his childhood experience connected with nature.
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b. What is “little i” doing?
Answer:
'Little i' is peering at the beautiful and golden sunset of November from some high window and feeling about the beautiful way of transforming the day into the night.
c. What can be the relationship between “little i” and the speaker of the poem?
Answer:
The relationship between ''little i" and the speaker of the poem can be one of natural attachment. The little boy, or 'i', is an outcome of the speaker's memory of childhood experience. Here, the speaker is voicing the words in favour of this beautiful nature and recalling his childhood experience closely connected with nature. We find the speaker's deep devotion and respect for this beautiful and vast nature.
d. What is the speaker remembering from his childhood days in the poem?
Answer:
The speaker is remembering an extremely beautiful scene of nature from his childhood days in the poem. He is remembering himself as a little boy of five or six years old in some high window who is peering and enjoying the beautiful golden sunset and its transformation in November.
e. What attitude does the speaker seem to have toward the child in the poem?
Answer:
The speaker seems to have a positive and lovable attitude towards the child in the poem. The speaker seems quite desirous of his childhood days. He feels extremely happy in connection with this beautiful nature being little 'i'. He enjoys the scenic beauty of the golden sunset through his childhood's eyes. He seems to long for his childhood days.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. Why do you think Cummings has placed a semicolon between the words window and at?
Answer:
I think Cummings has placed a semicolon between the words window and at to break the two different locations. Here, he has used a semicolon to distinguish the locations inside and outside the window. Here, the little boy is sitting inside the window and peering at the beauty of November's sunset outside the window. The placement of semicolons has created the description of two different locations in relation to the boy's acts.
b. If the speaker is the child grown up, why does he ask, “who are you”?
Answer:
He asks, "Who are you?" because he is feeling good in his memory to find his childhood days of a completely carefree life. He feels free from suffering and the burden of obligations. He asks to express the pleasures of his carefree childhood days that are closely connected with nature.
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)”?
Answer:
Here, in these lines, we find the boy's feelings about the beautiful scene of November's golden sunset. The boy finds a quite beautiful way of transforming the golden colours of the sun in the daytime into the black colours of the night. He feels about this wonderful transition of beautiful nature. Thus, the theme of these lines might be the wonderful changes in this beautiful nature that are beyond humans' thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, etc. These changes have deep effects on humans. Here, the theme, in its deeper meaning, also refers to the end of this life, which is full of burdens, obligations, and pains. The light of daytime refers to life, whereas the darkness of night refers to death. The beautiful way of transforming the day into the night also shows the concept of life and death. The speaker wants to be a child again, leaving this life of suffering.
d. What is the rhyme scheme used in the poem?
Answer:
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of sounds that repeats at the end of a line or stanza. The rhyme scheme used in the poem is ABAB and CDCD.
e. Explain the pun in “little i” that is related to what he is doing.
Answer:
A pun is a joke that reveals different possible meanings of a word. It also refers to the words that sound alike but have different meanings, along with humour. Here, in the act of the 'little i', we find beautiful use of the pun. The 'little i' is peering into the golden sunset of November. The 'little i' or the boy has been presented here in some high window. Here, 'little i' and 'high' sound alike in rhyme scheme but create laughter for the readers to find out the meaning. The speaker has presented 'little i' in some high window's location. Here, the mismatched height of 'little i' and 'window' has been presented for the act of peering at the beautiful golden sunset of November, which has created laughter.
f. How does Cummings’s use of lowercase letters affect your understanding of the poem? Explain.
Answer:
Cummings's use of lowercase letters affects my understanding of the poem. The use of lowercase letters in his poem has different literal meanings beyond their forms. The style of using lowercase letters is considered incorrect in writing English grammatical forms. His use of lowercase letters here in this poem has created a lot of difficulties for me in grasping the actual meaning of the poem.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
a. How does nature inspire the speaker in “who are you, little i”? Explain.
Answer:
Nature inspires the speaker a lot in "Who are you, little I?" The beauty of nature has made him recall his beautiful childhood experience. He finds himself as a little boy of five or six years old in his childhood. He keeps on peering at the beautiful golden sunset and feels for 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.
Answer:
The most interesting moment in my life was the day when I experienced a fine rainbow in the sky. During that time, I was in fifth grade. It was the time of my monsoon vacation. One Sunday, after the rainfall, I was amazed to find the most beautiful rainbow in the sky in the morning. I kept on watching it through my window for a long time. I felt lucky to get the chance to see it. The beautiful scene of the rainbow is still fresh in my mind. I want to see it again and again in my life.
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