maggie and milly and molly and may

by E. E. Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea


The speaker is a third person not involved in the situation. They are probably a parent of either Maggie, Milly, Molly or May. I found this because the speaker does not ever say "I" or "me" in the poem.
The diction of the poem is about Maggie, Milly, Molly and May (four girls) who decide to go to the beach. Maggie finds a shell that she really likes.Milly found a star fish. May found a shell or rock. Milly was chased by a scary fish of some sort.
Some imagery in the poem would be the stranded starfish with five fingers. Another image would be a fish puffing out bubbles from its mouth.
Some figurative language in the poem would be "maggie discovered a shell that sang". That is personification because shells don't actually sing, they just make whistle noises if you listen really quietly.Another example would be "Milly befriended a stranded star". That is anopormorphism because you can't actually become friends with a starfish.Another example would be "smooth round stone as small as a world" which is a simile.
I think the meaning of the poem is little things that make you happy can distract you from the bad things going on. For instance, a pretty shell that made a beautiful noise distracted Maggie from her problems in her life.