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Chapter 4 Who are you, little i?
Class 11 English
Exercise
E.E. Cummings
Theme
In terms of the central idea, this frame presents the close
connection between nature and childhood. A child is very close to
nature but as he grows up this connection is disturbed. A child is
capable of perceiving beauty and astonishment in the world of
nature. In terms of the context, the speaker remembers his
childhood days when he as a child looked at the setting sun in
November through the window.
In terms of rhyme scheme, we have abided in other words the first
line rhymes with third-line second rhymes with the fourth line, and
so on.
Main Summary
Here, the poem begins with the poet’s question who are you, little
i? He is not in fact asking a question but remembering his
childhood days. We also notice parenthesis in the second and sixth
lines which is another characteristic of Cummings’ poetry. The first
five lines resemble the poet’s childish days. He remembers his
childish days when he was five or six and sitting nearby the window
and looking at the sunset. Here the poet has used of small letter ‘i’
for two purposes, first of all, he has used small ‘i’ for self-reflection
or referring to himself as a child, and secondly, it shows the image
of the poet indicated by the second line. He also used the semicolon
between wind and at in the fourths line to suggest two different
locations as inside and outside the window such as boy is inside the
window and sun is setting outside it.
Finally, the poem concludes
with the statement that if the day has to become night this is a beautiful way and it also reflects the child’s excitement at the
transformation of the day into night.
Therefore, for him, this is something beautiful. It can also be
interpreted as the poet’s desire to see the end of his life where the
days refer to life and night refer to death.
Exercise: Question Answer Solutions
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. Who can be the speaker of this poem?
Answer: The speaker of this poem is the poet himself. Here in this
poem, he has presented himself as a little boy recalling his
childhood experience connected with nature.
b. What is “little i” doing?
Answer: ‘Little i’ is looking the beautiful and golden scene of sunset
from a 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 “little i” is the childhood of the speaker himself, and
the speaker is the child grown-up. So we can say that the “little i”
is the child version of the speaker.
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 who used to enjoy the beautiful golden sunset
and its transformation.
e. What attitude does the speaker seem to have toward the child in
the poem?
Answer: The speaker seems to have a positive, nostalgic attitude towards the child. He feels a youthful presence in himself still now,
who inspires him now to look out and enjoy the nature outside.
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 to provide a break in the long sentence while
keeping the thought flowing. In such situations a semicolon works
stronger than a comma as in the present sentence structure.
b. If the speaker is the child grown up, why does he ask, “who are
you”?
Answer: There is no doubt that the speaker is the child grown up.
Still he puts the question “who are you”. It may be because he is
struggling to recall the wonderment of his youthful days. Or maybe,
it’s his incredulity that there is still a youthful presence in himself
enjoying the 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 feeling about the
beautiful scene of November’s golden sunset. He feels about
wonderful transition of nature i.e day to night. Thus, the theme of
these lines might refer to death. It is a touchy way to describe an
unwelcome transition from the joyful youth to the end of life.
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 the clever use of a word that has more than one
meaning or a word that have different meanings but sounds the
same. The pun in ‘little i’ indicates both a specific aspect of the poet’s personality, the childlike feeling of wonder, and seeing the
world through the ‘eye’ of a child.
f. How does Cummings’s use of lowercase letters affect your
understanding of the poem? Explain.
Answer: Cummings’s use of lowercase letters affect my
understanding of the poem. He uses lowercase letters to emphasize
his inferior feelings in regard to his experience. He used to enjoy
nature in his childhood full of happiness but now his adulthood
worries have suppressed his joys and pleasures.
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 to go back into his beautiful
childhood experience. He finds himself as a little boy of five or six
years old in his childhood. He used to look 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: I was born and raised in the busy city of Kathmandu. My
father works there. I grew up in the midst of the city, with little
connection to nature. As I was about to take my school graduation
exams my father announced that we would go to our native village
in the long vacation. My happiness knew no bound. It was like a
dream coming true. Finally I was in my native village. It was so
different. Opposite to the hustle and bustle of the busy city, it was
so calm and tranquil. It was first time I saw a milking cow.
Otherwise I used to think that all produce come from super markets
or dairies. The next morning my grand pa took me to our paddy
field. I was surprised to see the vast stretch of greenery. It was so
different from the concrete jungle of the place where I live. The
chirping of birds in mango groves was so sweet. It was not like a caged bird. I never knew before that winds can play so delightfully.
There I learnt how to connect with nature. I enjoyed sun rises and
sunsets, which were always covered by the big buildings of my city.
We stayed there for about a month. But I shall never forget my first
introduction with nature.
c. Interpret the poem in any way you like.
Answer: This little poem is in the form of a dramatic monologue
where he addresses his own childhood. It opens with in a nostalgic
mood. Watching sunset through his window one evening, the
speaker suddenly goes in flashback when in his childhood he used
to enjoy such natural scenes.
He asks his “little i” who he is. No doubt, the ‘little i’ is his
childhood version (his childhood).
It shows that although the
worries of his childhood have kept suppressed his childhood
pleasures, it is still there in some corner of his heart. That is the
happiest thing.
As the poem proceeds, the mood changes from nostalgic to sad
pensive one, when he talks about the the passing days, indicating
‘death’. Here we find an unwelcome transition (change) from
pleasing childhood to approaching death. But here again, he finds a
beautiful way of approaching a dreaded finale (that is, fear of
death).
By putting “i” with “little” he deemphasizes (minimizes the
importance of) the self and promotes time.
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