If
If - meaning Summary
Identity Depends on Opposites
Cummings imagines a series of inverted worlds where opposites are swapped — day is night, false is true, dirt is clean — and argues that such reversals would destroy personal identity and relationships. The poem asserts that meaning and selfhood depend on contrasts and mutual recognition; without stable distinctions, people could not remain themselves or know others. Its tone is playful yet philosophically pointed about dependence on difference.
Read Complete AnalysesIf freckles were lovely, and day was night, And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie, Life would be delight,- But things couldn't go right For in such a sad plight I wouldn't be I. If earth was heaven, and now was hence, And past was present, and false was true, There might be some sense But I'd be in suspense For on such a pretense You wouldn't be you. If fear was plucky, and globes were square, And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee Things would seem fair,- Yet they'd all despair, For if here was there We wouldn't be we.
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