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I, I, I | Introduction

In 1996, American poet Hayden Carruth published his poem “I, I, I” in his collection, Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey: Poems 1991–1995. At that time, Carruth was already an established and popular poet who had published many collections of poetry since 1959. While he is viewed as a proponent of twentieth-century modernism, he defies categorization and, indeed, has consciously resisted it. In his poetry, Carruth moves easily between free verse and verse written in rhyme and meter.

Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey: Poems 1991–1996 was generally well received by critics and won a National Book Award in poetry for the poet in the year 1996. “I, I, I” is written in non-rhyming free verse. Thematically, the poem is a poetic version of the bildungsroman (a novel dealing with the development or coming-of-age of a young protagonist). It raises and, to some extent answers, questions about self-identity through a memorable boyhood experience of the speaker. The poet’s treatment of the experience is highly personal but shows the influence of existentialism and Eastern mysticism. The poem appears to be autobiographical, in that it is written in the first person and the speaker’s physical appearance matches that of Carruth himself.

I, I, I Summary

Lines 1–5

In “I, I, I,” the speaker tells of an incident that happened in his boyhood. If it is assumed that Carruth is describing his own experience, this would have taken place in the 1920s. The speaker begins by describing his understanding of the nature of his self from the point of view of mature adulthood. The self is divided into two aspects: the self and the observing self; “The self that acts and the self that watches.” He now knows that this realization, this self-awareness, marks the point where the mind of an individual or of a species begins.

Lines 5–9

The speaker shifts back in time to his boyhood. He struggles to understand the nature of his self. He can grasp the idea of the first self that watches, but the fact that he (“I”) can know this watching self means that there must be another “I” who is the knower, a self beyond the first watching self. If he can know this other watching self, then there must be yet another self, watching that watching... » Complete I, I, I Summary

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1. I, I, I: Introduction
2. I, I, I: Summary
3. I, I, I: Text of the Poem
4. I, I, I: Hayden Carruth Biography
5. I, I, I: Themes
6. I, I, I: Style
7. I, I, I: Historical Context
8. I, I, I: Critical Overview
9. I, I, I: Criticism
   1. Claire Robinson
   2. Thomson Gale
   3. Eric Murphy Selinger
   4. Roy Scheele
   5. David W. Landrey
10. I, I, I: Compare and Contrast
11. I, I, I: Topics for Further Study
12. I, I, I: What Do I Read Next?
13. I, I, I: Bibliography and Further Reading
14. I, I, I: Pictures
15. Copyright

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