Preview

Poetry Analysis- I'M Nobody! Who Are You?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
541 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Poetry Analysis- I'M Nobody! Who Are You?
“I’m nobody! Who are you?” is one of Emily Dickinson’s most important works from her poetry career. This poem addresses the idea of being accepted in society, or as some critics see it, a coming of age and transformation into the adult world. The speaker is seen as an outcast almost calling out the society that they are in. The aspect of Dickinson’s reclusiveness in her life is shown by this poem with her pointing out the wrongs of a society that everyone is supposed to be a part of. There is also a strong selection of diction used to create the imagery and the tone of the work. This is one characteristic that can be seen in almost all of the works of Emily Dickinson. Although there are many interpretations and many disagreements to the meaning of this poem, it still remains on of Dickinson’s most popular of all time.

The first line of the poem reads “I’m nobody! Who are you? Are you nobody too? (Dickinson)” This is the first testimony that the author is separating themselves from regular society. Rather than claiming to have an identity and individuality, the author says that they are nobody. Then they go on to question whether the reader is also nobody. This leads the reader to believe that there is no true identity for people and the society is simple a created thing. This logic serves as an explanation for the strangeness of Emily Dickinson and her life. There is a strong possibility that this is how she actually felt about the world and in turn this caused her to seclude herself from everyone else because she felt that she was nobody (Leiter). She then says that if there is a pair of people who have made the conclusion that the society is not right, that they must not let it be known because they would be outcast (Dickinson). This is almost a call to the reader to question their society.

Along with the idea of banishment from society, another interpretation is that this is a poem about coming of age and the confusion of adolescents (Leiter). This is

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    I am doing this review over the album Just Who I am, by Kenny Chesney.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Blank Verse Poem The day Jane lost Bob to a fallen world She promised to be gratified with life Her affection reached from way far above Commissioned to give back put others first One day a rainstorm hit the city streets Jane perceived upon her high dormitory room Next after working hours her neighbors parked…

    • 122 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    tim blixseth essay

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When I was younger, I thought money ruled everything but in reality it doesn’t. Working hard doesn’t apply anymore in today’s economy. Most of the people who are wealthy have grown into the money or inherited from their ancestor. People hold the wealthy to a higher standard/power therefore they think they are better than the middle/lower class. Even though money is a great asset to have, it can be a liability. As I read the essay about Tim Blixseth, he was an individual who was not impressed or got excited about how much money he and his family had. He wanted to be low key, an average middle class person who worked hard for what he got not just given. In the story “Living It” he tells us how he would wake up in different locations each night.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Olaudah Equiano 's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, is the story of the eponymous real-life character, Olaudah Equiano, his life, trials, tribulations and journey from slavery at an early age to freedom. For Equiano, it seems that slavery is almost a metaphysical phenomenon. His entire life is essentially characterized by the different experiences relating slavery, from Africa to the Middle Passage to plantation life in the West Indies and United States. Equiano’s views on slavery are tough to articulate and truly complex. Throughout the novel he makes reference to different ‘degrees of slavery,’ at times condemning the practice, and at other times contradicting himself and seemingly lauding it. I believe that his conflicting views are products of his first hand experience with nearly all aspects of the practice, and near the end of the novel it is clear that he is in favor of ending slavery.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson’s main purpose in poem 355 is to describe an indefinable depression. She creates a melancholy persona to depict the chaos and despair she feels because of her condition. Her poem is structured around her uncertainty towards her mental state. Dickinson, in the first two stanzas, eliminates possibilities to what she may be feeling. She analyzes that “it was not death”, “it was not night”, “it was not frost”, “nor fire”. The poem appeals to the human sense of touch, as Dickinson compares tangible sensations that the body normally experiences to her tumultuous emotions. In the third stanza, Dickinson synthesizes all of the possibilities she eradicated in the previous two stanzas, ominously stating that her condition “tasted like them all”. The narrator is unable to distinguish her feelings from one another, leading the reader to conclude that she is in a chaotic state of mind. She compares her condition to a funeral, both of which evoke death. In the fourth stanza, Dickinson continues to explore her persona’s dark psyche. The narrator experiences terror and despair to the point where she “could not breathe.” Her only “key” to escape this punishment is to be able to understand what she is feeling and why…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poetry: Poem Analysis

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The works we studied within Creative Writing were all helpful in creating my own works to submit to the class. Throughout all of the reading, many of the works inspired me in different ways, whether it was short story plot ideas or word usage in the poems. While crafting my work for the final portfolio, I reviewed many of the poems from our poetry packet in an effort to find inspiration and to create new interesting images. I took the most inspiration for my formal poem, which I found most difficult to write. One of the poems that was most useful to me was Jilly Dybka’s “Memphis, 1976.” Dybka’s poem follows the sestina form; I also wrote my last poem in this form, so it helped to follow the form by looking at her poem as an example. Dybka’s…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This book shows what Emily’s vision was and the purpose of her poetry. The author suggests that the purpose of her poetry was Dickinson’s attempt to find her identity. This would help me in writing my thesis because I can look at which poems could be identified as being “feminists” or not.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Poetry Analysis

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lorna Dee Cervantes' poem, “Poema para los Californios Muertos” (“Poem for the Dead Californios”), is a commentary on what happened to the original inhabitants of California when California was still Mexico, and an address to the speaker's dead ancestors. Utilizing a unique dynamic, consistently alternating between Spanish and English, Cervantes accurately represents the fear, hatred, and humility experienced by the “Californios” through rhythm, arrangement, tone, and most importantly, through use of language.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emily Dickinson's Diction

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a case of one of Dickinson's all the more interesting sonnets, yet the comic drama is not just for delight. Or maybe, it contains a gnawing parody of people in general circle, both of the general population figures who have the advantage of it, and of the masses who license them to. Dickinson's light tone, silly voice, and welcome to the peruser to be on her side, nonetheless, keep the sharp edge of the parody from cutting too stingingly.…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Michael Salvucci Mrs. Comeau English 10 Honors Death, Pain, and the Pursuit of Peace Although Emily Dickinson’s poetry is profoundly insightful, her poems have a very confinedpan of subjects and themes. Most likely due to her early life and social reclusion, Dickinson’s poetry is limited to three major subjects: death, pain, and on a somewhat lighter note, nature. Dickinson’s poetry is greatly influenced by her early life as she led an extremely secluded and pessimisticlife. In her early adult years the poet spent one year studying at female seminary, from 1847 to 1848. Dickinson’s blunt pessimistic attitude is shown in a letter, written to a friend, as she says “I am not happy…Christ is calling everyone here, all my companions have answered, and I am standing alone in rebellion.” (Meltzer 20-21) The poets self-described rebellious manner can be acclaimed to her residence featuring many politically active and dominant men, as her brother, father and grandfather were all attorneys with interest in politics. Again in a letter to a friend written during a political convention, Dickinson wonders “why can’t [she] be a delegate in the convention?” as she says “[she] knows all about the tariff and the law.” (Sewall 64-65) She recognizes the gender barrier in society and as a result Dickinson develops a unique style of poetry. Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. (Lines 1-4) The speaker’s use of the word ‘kindly’ to describe death exemplifies his civil and considerate manner, but is his courteous character an illusion? Later in the poem the speaker writes: We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. (4-8) Because of death’s kindness in stopping for the speaker, she “put[s] away / [her] labor, and [her] leisure too,” (5-6), is death being true in taking her to heaven, or is he betraying her? There interposed a fly (9-12)…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The human desire for belonging can be nurtured or inhibited by an individual’s society. In her poem, “this is my letter to the world,” Dickinson not only reveals her desire to belong, but also the way that society has prevented her from achieving this. Dickinson accomplishes this effectively as she reflects her feelings through a “letter to the world.” Dickinson attempts to internalise the views of her society and, upon failing to do so, retreats further within herself where she finds a sense of belonging. The line “The simple news that Nature told, with tender majesty,” demonstrates Dickinson’s reverence for nature and the hope that people will be able to hear her message through it, which is personified as the mediator between Dickinson and her society. Within this poem, it is clear that Dickinson has a closer affinity to nature than she does with society. It is through nature that she is able to gain a sense of belonging, which is fundamental for human growth and development. Dickinson's messages are complex and profound but usually conveyed in simple language, which tends to create an enigmatic effect. In this poem, Dickinson uses metonymy to represent her society as “hands I cannot see.” This demonstrates her alienation with society and her need to simplify them into something she is able to comprehend. The last line makes a final appeal to the…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “Unto My Books So Good To Turn” and “Contrast”, show different sides of her unusual personality. Ironically, both works choose encounters with people as opportunities to provide glimpses into a lonely, reclusive life.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A sense of belonging can be developed from one’s choice to cease interaction with their world, and instead to concentrate on the satisfying of personal desires. Through Dickinson’s poetry, she illustrates her resilience after experiences of rejection from society, and her aspiration to be accepted in posterity. In This is my letter to the world, this notion is conveyed when she incorporates a grieved, self-pitying tone when discussing “the world / that never wrote to me”. From the rejection that she has received in response to her desire for social recognition, Dickinson displays her lack of concern for society with the absence of any criticism or anger. Rather, she expresses an emotional determination to develop a stronger self-identity. In addition, the “hands I cannot see” act as symbolism for the degree of isolation that Dickinson feels from society. A sense of ambiguity is created as she emphasises a trust in her work to posterity, whilst also emphasising her choice to separate…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Belonging

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Dickinson’s I died for beauty, but was scarce examines the struggle between opposing pressures of individuality as an artist and a search for acceptance through the persona’s attempt to acquire fulfilment after death. The persona’s introduction as an outsider due to a lack of conformity in society is clearly illustrated in the first line of the poem “I died for beauty, but was scarce” where “scarce” serves to emphasise the persona’s lack of recognition and acknowledgement while she was alive. The introduction of the secondary persona metaphorically juxtaposes this as “one who died for truth”, implying a difference between the two who are placed in “adjoining rooms” as an imagery of distance due to their differences, also showing the persona’s struggle with opposing pressures to reach out, yet building a wall when in fear of losing her individuality. An examination of the paradoxical nature of belonging that creates struggles is also evident through the persona’s death “for beauty” where beauty is a symbolisation for Dickinson’s art is perceived as a failure as she is questioned as to “why I failed?”, showing the view of her society where a lack of conformity is seen as a failure and illustrates her absence of belonging in society as a result of choosing to retain her…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of imagery and figurative language also support the theme of individuality, as we begin to understand the characters. Imagery is the main focus in Dickinson's “I'm Nobody, Who Are You?”.The use of imagery makes the reader feel more special, more unique. She is comparing herself to a frog in a bog it makes us “the readers” to feel like we are right there with her. The speaker feels connected to the other “Nobody” because the other “Nobody” doesn't care what others think. She wants to be herself and does not want to be noticed, but wants to be herself. She is comfortable with who she is turning out to be. The speaker does not want to be bored that's why she started talking to the other “nobody”. Isn't everybody a somebody. So if everyone is a somebody she is a somebody? She is a somebody in her own way. She is talking of a bog, a bog is a muddy place; in the poem she tells about “To tell one's name the livelong June to an admiring bog!” Just like the girl in dusting the frog keep say it's name over and over again because he is proud of whom he is; but while he's croaking he is sitting on the bog. He repeats his name over and over again because he's his own person like the girl in dusting. A frog's croak becomes monotonous and boring because he is saying the same old thing the whole time it starts to get old meaning people might be getting tired of her.The frog keeps doing that to be noticed and to be a “somebody”. If everyone is a “Somebody” does it make “Nobody” a “Somebody”? I believe everybody is a “Somebody” no matter how different they are.…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays