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WHO ARE YOU, LITTLE i ? - E E Cummings - Summary and Analysis

 WHO ARE YOU, LITTLE i?

E E Cummings 

BACKGROUND:


E(dward) E(stlin) Cummings (1894-1962), often styled as e e cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, novelist, and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays, and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As one of the most innovative poets of his time, Cummings experimented with poetic form and language to create a distinct personal style. 

 

Cummings’ poem “who are you, little i” describes a child looking out a window at the end of the day. It is about nature and the effect it has on the speaker. The speaker of the poem is the person “voicing” the words, recalling a childhood moment closely connected with nature. Perhaps the speaker is Cummings. 

 

SUMMARY:


This poem is related to nature and its effect on the speaker. This poem is quite short
which contains only eight lines. The main theme of this poem is freshness of beautiful nature and its positive effect on the humans. This poem opens with the speaker standing near a window and looking out of it, at the end of a day. He goes to a nostalgic mood, recalling his childhood, when he used to watch a sunset thoughtfully. He remembers how he used to enjoy such a beauty when he used to be a little boy of five or six years. It is a wonder that he still has 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 doesn't allow him, to do so.  

The poet has beautifully described a little boy, his location and his acts of peering (looking) and feeling about beautiful and wonderful nature. He has presented his experiences of childhood closely connected with nature. He has presented himself as a little i or a boy of five or six years old who keeps on peering beautiful golden sunset of November through some high window and pondering about the wonderful transformation of the day into night in a very beautiful way.   


Technical Aspects:

  • The poet has used semicolon (;) between the two words to provide a break in the long sentence while keeping the thought flowing. 
  • The poem can be divided into two parts: first part is from the first line to the fifth line (we find the speaker's state of mind recalling the past pleasing moments of his childhood. He is in a nostalgic mood here), and second part is from the sixth to the last line of the poem (he is in a doleful (wistful/sad) mood. This part describes his liberation from his mood).

Sources:


https://www.biography.com/writer/ee-cummings

https://eecummingspoetry.tumblr.com/post/16635648013/who-are-youlittle-i

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings

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