If I
If I - meaning Summary
Praise Over Practical Care
This poem contrasts indifference to basic needs with intense, unapologetic admiration for beauty and goodness. The speaker dismisses responsibility for others' material welfare as irrelevant, but celebrates and amplifies personal qualities—beauty, depth, generosity—urging exuberant praise. The tone is colloquial and intimate, framing love or aesthetic rapture as more important than moral duty or social crises. The closing lines insist this feeling is singular and authentic.
Read Complete Analysesif i or anybody don't know where it her his my next meal's coming from i say to hell with that that doesn't matter (and if he she it or everybody gets a bellyful without lifting my finger i say to hell with that i say that doesn't matter) but if somebody or you are beautiful or deep or generous what i say is whistle that sing that yell that spell that out big (bigger than cosmic rays war earthquakes famine or the ex prince of whoses diving into a whatses to rescue miss nobody's probably handbag) because i say that's not swell (get me) babe not (understand me) lousy kid that's something else my sweet (i feel that's true)
Feel free to be first to leave comment.