Reading

Who are you, little i?

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. Who can be the speaker of this poem?
Ans: Yes, I have looked out through a window and taken pleasure in what I saw. I looked at a fine and colorful rainbow in the sky during monsoon season. I gor extremely pleasesd to find such a clear and beautiful rainbow in the sky.

b. What is “little i” doing?
Ans: “little i” is peering at sunset through the window.

c. What can be the relationship between “little i” and the speaker of the poem?
Ans: The “little i” represents the speaker’s own childhood, and the speaker is the grown-up child represented by the”little i”. As a result, the “little i” represents the childhood version of the speaker.

d. What is the speaker remembering from his childhood days in the poem?
Ans: 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 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?
Ans: The speaker appears to have fond memories of the child. He still percieves a youthful presence within himself, which motivates him to look out the window and take in the scenery.

Reference to the Context

a. Why do you think Cummings has placed a semicolon between the words window and at?
Ans: The semicolon between the words ‘window’ and ‘at’ expresses a break between the two main parts of the poem. In the first part, the poet asks his question. In the second part, he goes on to describe the sense of wonder he has experienced.

b. If the speaker is the child grown up, why does he ask “who are you”?
Ans: The speaker addresses his own inner child. The childlike wonder still lives within him. The feelings that cause him to remember how he used to enjoy the golden sunset in November when he was a child.

c. In this poem, an adult reflects on the childhood experience. Based on that, what might be the theme of the lines:
Ans: Here, in these lines, we find the boy’s feeling about the beautiful scene of November’s golden sunset. The boy finds a quite beautiful way of transforming of golden colors of the sun of day time into black colors 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 which 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 of obligations and pains. The light of the daytime refers the life whereas the darkness of night refers to death. The beautiful way of transformation of 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?
Ans: The rhyme scheme of this poem is ABAB.

e. Explain the pun in “little i” that is related to what he is doing.
Ans: Pun can have multiple interpretations depending on how it’s used. The poet’s writing style calls for the first-person pronoun ‘I’ to be lowercase. By including the word ‘little’ in the phrase little I he implies that the boy is extremely small. It could imply that the boy is still a child compared to his current adulthood. Another interpretation is that he downplays the significance of his own experience in comparison to others.

f. How does Cumming’s use of lowercase letters affect your understanding of the poem? Explain.
Ans: Cumming uses lowercase letters to emphasize his inferior feelings in regard to his experience. He used to enjoy nature in his childhood full of happiness. 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”?
Ans: 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.
Ans: I was born and raised in a town. But luckily, we went to our old village home at Dashain time. It was my first time stepping on a village. It was a complete contrast to the frenetic pace of the big city. It as my first encounter with a milking cow, and I as quite taken aback. I used to think all food came from supermarkets or dairies if it wasn’t organic. My grandfather took me to our maize field the following morning. The sheer amount of vegetation astounded me. It was a welcome change from the concrete jungle I’m used to.

There, I discovered how to establish a connection with the natural world. I loved watching the sun rise and set behind the towering skycrapers of my city. We spent about a month there. However, my first encounter with nature is something I’ll never forget.