If By Ee Cummings Poem Analysis

‘It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are” is a quote by E.E. Cummings. Each of the poems show different aspects of growing up but they all leave the same message behind that growing up has its hardships but after a flower blossoms it is only more beautiful. "If": a simple, two-letter title. The title of the poem itself leaves the reader in suspense. The word “if” usually describes something that doesn't yet exist but also implies that it will lead to another particular event. The use of the word ‘If’, meaning it may or may not happen show’s the drastic consequences that might exist through a slight change. Since it is repeatedly used, it makes the reader believe that it will happen. The poem ‘If’ is a list of multifarious attributes the intended listener of the poem should have, to gain the world. This is a metaphor for power and joy. For example, ‘If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you’. The theme of growing up exists throughout the poem as the poem is based around the transition from childhood to adulthood. This poem by Kipling is a recipe to become a good man, not only from society’s perspective but your own as well. Many lines from the poem such as, ‘If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you’ and ‘Or walk with Kings—nor

‘Blue lipped’ and ‘she lay for dead’ shows that the crowd assumes she is dead and keep watching instead of assisting the drowned child. This implies that society is selfish and there are only few who are good hearted. In this case it would be the narrator’s mother. The theme of childhood isn’t especially clear but the poem shows that the narrator takes great pride in knowing that his mother saved the child’s life. The poem also suggests the narrator’s mother was his role model and he is remembering his past and his heroine from his