“IF” BY E.E. CUMMINGSLit Like Bic

The title of the poem symbolizes possibilities, as in things that we all hope will happen

but normally don’t

The narrator is pondering over what life would be like if certain things were different

The setting is a theoretical alternative reality where the bad things that occur are opposite than in the real world

The speaker in this poem is I, as referred to at the end of the first stanza

At the end of the second stanza he uses the word “you”, implying that he is also

talking to somebody The author also uses the term “we” at

the end of the final stanza, confirming that he is indeed talking to someone else

The speaker ponders over how if certain (bad) things were different in the past, things might

seem to be better off for him and for the world. However, the speaker realizes that if those things

had not occurred then he would be a different person, you would be a different person, and the

world would be a different world. The speaker believes even if the world was “perfect”, people would still find something to

complain about. The speaker appreciates what he has and who he

has become, rather than taking his happiness for granted.

Inquisitive

Alternative

Reality

Character

Words that describe the tone of the

poem as well as the

language

This poem consists of 3

stanzas all with 6 lines that

follow the same rhythm

The poem uses an ABAAAB rhyme

scheme

How would the suggestion of an alternative reality change

the world as we know it?

Cummings uses imagery with words such as “freckles”, “measles”, and “earth” in order for the reader to visualize what he is saying

The entire poem itself can be a symbol for how humans, in a perfect world, will never

be satisfied. Created with a reflective/meditative

structure.