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...