I'm Nobody! Who are you?

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As with all Emily Dickinson poems, though, it is not so much what the poem says as how it says it that makes the poem distinct, memorable, and profound. The rhyme scheme is erratic: the two stanzas roughly rhyme abcb, as with most of Dickinson's poems, but this is unsettled right from the start: I'm Nobody! Who are you?Are you - Nobody - too?Then there's a pair of us!Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know! The rhyme of 'too' and 'know' is only half-rhyme: 'too' looks back to 'you' ('Who are you?') more than it looks forward to 'know' ('know' itself picks up on the 'No' of 'Nobody'). The use of the longer word 'advertise' among shorter, simpler words draws our attention to that word, and this is deliberate. Nobody draws attention to Nobodies; but to do so would be to attempt to make them conspicuous, to advertise them, and the word advertise (easily the longest word in the stanza) is itself conspicuous in the poem. How dreary - to be - Somebody!How public - like a Frog -To tell one's name - the livelong June -To an admiring Bog! The rhyme scheme in the second stanza is more conventional (Frog/Bog), but the imagery is enigmatic. Why is a 'Somebody' like a frog? Because it croaks its (self-)importance constantly, to remind its surroundings that it is - indeed - Somebody? Or because there is something slimy and distasteful about people who possess smug self-importance because they are 'Somebodies'. Indeed, the clue lies in that opening line, which, if it is read as a response to a question (absent from the poem), makes more sense. But what question? The one that fits the bill is Who do you think you are? or Who the hell are you? Dickinson's opening line, and the question shot back at the unseen addressee, support such an idea. This would explain the uneasiness of the rhyme scheme in the first stanza: the poem can also be read as satirical. In this reading of the poem, Dickinson's speaker does not identify with the addressee of the poem, because the addressee - unlike Dickinson herself - is deluded and believes himself to be a Somebody. Dickinson pricks this pomposity and, with faux innocence, pretends to identify with another self-confessed Nobody. Another haughty question, often asked by a supercilious Somebody, is Don't you know who I am? Dickinson knows she is a Nobody; the problem is that this other person doesn't realise that he himself is also a Nobody. Ultimately, Dickinson's short lyric can be read either as a straightforward celebration of 'Nobodiness', of being that overlooked and underrated thing: the face in the crowd. But it also allows for a more cunning satirical reading, whereby the poem is imagined to be a response to a question that has been left out of the poem. The strength of this poem is that it can be analysed either way - often the mark of great poetry. However, there may be a third way of interpreting the poem, which is to see it as satire, but satire which mocks those sentimental devotional poets of the nineteenth century who praised the natural world and the heavens while humbly downplaying their own significance: next to the grandeur and majesty of the heavens, or the beauty and wonder of a mountain or an ocean, the sheer vastness of the world, how important is the individual human? There were plenty of sentimental poets in nineteenth-century America writing such verse: showing off how wonderfully humble they were, if you will. Is Dickinson satirising them in 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?' Perhaps.

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Dickinson intensely believed that the thoughts of one's mind were meant to be kept private, or privately shared, but never sold. These ideas come through in 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?,' as well. However, this poem reveals another side of Dickinson- the side that also wished for companionship. Although she hated the idea of publicity, Dickinson, being still human, would have still required some form of companionship. In this poem, the speaker seems to reveal Dickinson's feelings about finding companionship with another person. The speaker is excited to meet someone, but only because she believes that the person she is meeting is "Nobody" just like herself. This reflects Dickinson's desire to have companionship with someone who also avoided the public eye and shared her views on the importance of privacy. Dickinson, having lived a very reclusive life, did not seem to have many people whom she confided in and trusted. Rather, she wrote down her thoughts in the form of hundreds of poems that would not be published until after her death. This poem, however, reveals Dickinson's desire to have relationships with other people without being forced into the public eye. I'm Nobody! Who are you? Analysis Stanza One I'm Nobody! Who are you?Are you - Nobody - too?Then there's a pair of us!Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know! In the first line of 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?', the speaker exclaims that she is "Nobody". The use of the exclamation mark reveals that the speaker is actually excited to be nobody. This is ironic because the majority of people would like to be known as somebody. Thus, it strikes the reader as somewhat odd that this speaker says that she is nobody in a voice of exclamation. She is rather excited to be "Nobody". The second part of the first line reveals that the speaker is meeting someone else. She exclaims her identity as "nobody" to that person, and asks the person, "Who are you?". Then, in line two, the speaker asks in a hopeful voice, "Are you- Nobody- too?" The speaker seems to be hoping to have met another person who is also "nobody". In line three, she exclaims, "Then there's a pair of us!". She is clearly excited to have met another person who claims to be nobody. The speaker then admonishes her hearer not to tell anyone about the two of them each being "nobody", exclaiming, "They'd advertise- you know!". This reveals that the speaker was clearly afraid of being found out. She enjoyed having no fame and no recognition, and she feared that if someone found out that she loved being "nobody" they would advertise her and make into into "somebody" and she dreaded that. 10 Incredible Poetry Facts Part 1 × Volume 0% Stanza Two How dreary - to be - Somebody!How public - like a Frog - To tell one's name - the livelong June - To an admiring Bog! In this stanza, the speaker explains to her hearer exactly why she does not wish to be anybody. She says that it would be "dreary-to be- Somebody". She prefers to be left alone. She fears becoming someone "public" and describes a public person as being "like a frog". It seems odd that the speaker would compare a public person to a frog. Perhaps this is because frogs live out in the open, resting on lily pads in ponds. Perhaps this is because frogs can be loud and will croak, reminding everyone of their presence. For one reason or another, the speaker believes that to live hidden and quiet is better than to live out in the open, speaking loudly and drawing attention to oneself. She thus compares frogs to people who live in the public eye, or rather, are "somebody". The last two lines of 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?' reveal the speaker's disgust at the idea of living her life to tell of her own name "to an admiring bog". A "bog" describes a place in which a frog might live. This gives further insight into the speaker's comparison of a public person to a frog. Although the frog croaks constantly, it tells of its existence only to the bog. No one seems to hear it or care that it croaks about its own existence. This is why the speaker does not wish to be known or advertised by anyone. She believes it would be as though she were telling of herself to a "bog". No one would be there to care or listen, and she would feel as foolish as a croaking frog. Emily Dickinson's Connection Emily Dickinson was most famous, ironically, for not being famous during her lifetime. Although a few of her poems were published during her lifetime, they were sent to publishers by other people, and Dickinson clearly did not appreciate her poetry being made a public spectacle. Most of her poems were not published until after her death. Her intense desire to go unnoticed makes her current fame all the more ironic. Dickinson has been described as being "somewhat agitated and intense" (Pettinger). A friend and correspondent of Dickinson's described her, saying to his wife, "I was never with anyone who drained my nerve power so much" (Pettinger). This demeanor is likely what caused her to be afraid of social gatherings. Dickinson was not always secluded, but the older she got, the more she refrained from the public eye . Dickinson did attend college, but after returning home, she seldom went out and was rarely seen. This was the time period in which she wrote most of her poems. Although she secluded herself from the public eye, Dickinson still maintained contact with a few important people. This is likely the foundation of 'I'm Nobody! Who are you?'. Dickinson was thrilled at the idea of having found a companion who was not in the public eye. Those whom Dickinson corresponded with were people whom she trusted not to thrust her into the public eye.

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I'm Nobody! Who Are You? is one of Emily Dickinson's short poems, being only two stanzas, eight lines, in length. It has the classic hallmarks of a Dickinson poem, namely lots of dashes, unorthodox punctuation and exquisite use of words. The main theme is self-identity and all that goes with it. As individuals, are we content with our identities? What about privacy and the inner life? What about our role in society, our public persona? The first line has become one of the most popular of quotes and is often cited as the title of the poem, but in reality none of Emily Dickinson's poems are titled. She didn't give her poems a title, she simply wrote the lines down. There are many books written about this most reclusive of poets, who lived most of her adult life in the confines of her family home in Amherst, Massachusetts, seeing few people but writing hundreds of poems, only a handful being published during her lifetime. I'm Nobody! Who Are You? is rare in that the first stanza is directly aimed at the reader in a most informal, child-like style. A sort of secret pact is being made, a pact between nobodies; a them and us mindset being proposed. At least this is the initial impression the poem gives. The Nobody is a decent thing to be, private and selfless, with no need of recognition from the vulgar mob. Contrast that with the Somebody, a loud, repetitive egotistical thing who sits with other like-minded drearies, craving the worship of the masses. So there is a rough dialogue of the self going on in this little poem as the poet reaches out to others of a similar disposition, to set up in opposition to those who love to broadcast their own name. As in many of her poems, Emily Dickinson conjures up an unexpected surprise with the use of one little word - frog. She likens the Somebody to a frog, sat croaking all the time in the Bog. Frogs are one of the creatures that ranked high in the consciousness of the poet, as can be seen in this letter she wrote to her friend Mary Bowles: 'The frogs sing sweet - today - they have such pretty - lazy - times - how nice, to be a Frog!' So how come she made the frog a major player in her poem? And why use it in a simile? Could it be that the poet associated them with a public yet vulgar display of 'name calling'? After all, the loudest frogs are usually male and they sing to attract a female or declare their territorial boundaries. I'm Nobody! Who are you (Fr 260) Further Analysis of I'm Nobody! Who Are You? I'm Nobody! Who Are You? packs a lot into only two stanzas. With no regular meter (metre in UK) to create a steady rhythm, each line is a special case due mainly to the way Emily Dickinson frames the syntax with her use of dashes - . Punctuation plays a role too. So it's a stop-start kind of conversational poem where iamb and anapaest combine with tetrameter and trimeter. First Stanza The first line contains a declaration, the speaker boldly claiming that she is a nobody, a nonentity, which is a paradox in itself. How can a nobody end up in a poem, on show for all to see? The exclamation mark only adds to the puzzle. Is the speaker excited to be a nobody? Or has she shocked herself by revealing that, yes, it's true, she confesses at last. Being a Nobody is preferable to being a Somebody. And then the extraordinary reaching out to the reader in a child-like playful fashion. The speaker wants a secretive liaison, a private relationship which is a tongue-in-cheek partnership. And it must be kept quiet because if they get to know they'll broadcast it to the whole world! This is a comical take on the world of fame and celebrity. In an earlier revised version of the poem (Johnson) the fourth line reads: They'd banish us, you know. But a later and more accurate published collection by R.W. Franklin in 1998, based on the actual written manuscripts, returns the true fourth line: Don't tell! they'd advertise - you know! Second Stanza What makes this poem so powerful is the fact that it resonates with a modern audience today. The cult of celebrity dominates the popular press and media; cultivating the right public persona is everything, the pressure to be a somebody, a perfect social being, is enormous. Emily Dickinson chose to contrast her Nobody of the first stanza with a Somebody, a frog, in the second, and used the adjective dreary to describe what it is to be a Somebody. Frogs go public at mating time when the males gather to find a partner and establish territory, so whilst the action is instinctive it is still, to the speaker, dull and boring and vulgar. The tone is mocking - to be a Somebody, with a bloated ego, self-important, needing the admiration of the masses, is to be a bit of a loser. Ironically, this Nobody of the first stanza, in cahouts with the reader, is poking fun at the false pretence of those who parade their egos in open view, those who seek fame in a name. In some respects this poem reflects nothing but the naive thoughts of an introverted child locked up in an adult persona, having to come to terms with the outside world, where the extroverts live. Being a Nobody is to shun the fifteen minutes of fame, to be wary of the negative influence of public opinion and to remain humble and not to rely on the masses for self-worth. A good idea? Sources www.loc.gov/poetry

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This poem opens with a literally impossible declaration—that the speaker is "Nobody." This nobody-ness, however, quickly comes to mean that she is outside of the public sphere; perhaps, here Dickinson is touching on her own failure to become a published poet, and thus the fact that to most of society, she is "Nobody." The speaker does not seem bitter about this—instead she asks the reader, playfully, "Who are you?," and offers us a chance to be in cahoots with her ("Are you - Nobody - Too?"). In the next line, she assumes that the answer to this question is yes, and so unites herself with the reader ("Then there's a pair of us!"), and her use of exclamation points shows that she is very happy to be a part of this failed couple. Dickinson then shows how oppressive the crowd of somebodies can be, encouraging the reader to keep this a secret ("Don't tell!") because otherwise "they'd advertise," and the speaker and her reader would lose their ability to stand apart from the crowd. It then becomes abundantly clear that it is not only preferable to be a "Nobody," it is "dreary" to be a "Somebody." These somebodies, these public figures who are so unlike Dickinson, are next compared to frogs, rather pitifully, we can imagine, croaking away to the "admiring Bog." These public figures do not even attempt to say anything of importance—all they do is "tell one's name," that is, their own name, over and over, in an attempt to make themselves seem important. This "admiring Bog" represents those people who allow the public figures to think they are important, the general masses who lift them up. These masses are not even granted the respect of having a sentient being to represent them. Instead, they are something into which one sinks, which takes all individuality away, and has no opinion to speak of, and certainly not one to be respected. Analysis "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is an example of one of Dickinson's more comical poems, yet the comedy is not simply for pleasure. Rather, it contains a biting satire of the public sphere, both of the public figures who benefit from it, and of the masses who allow them to. Dickinson's light tone, childish voice, and invitation to the reader to be on her side, however, keep the sharp edge of the satire from cutting too stingingly. This poem mocks the pretensions of the public world, as it imagines public figures---or perhaps, published writers—as loud bullfrogs. These frogs have nothing of import to say; instead, they advertise their own names, over and over, selling themselves for the purpose of maintaining their fame, but not having any substance behind it. This especially makes it seem like this poem is speaking towards Dickinson's lack of publication, as even when she did publish, she did so anonymously, avoiding the prospect of telling her name. The frogs are not the only ones at fault, however. Their audience—closely tied to them through rhyme—is "an admiring Bog," with all of its members having joined into the whole, losing all individuality or identity. And indeed, this whole is a swamp, something that sucks one in, or sucks in all they are told, but puts forward no opinion or judgment of its own. This audience thus is spared the dreariness of being "somebody," for they have no identity, but they become worthless, for they are without opinion, and only serve to listen to and support the public figures. This public sphere is not only unpleasant in itself, but it is also tries to impose itself on those "nobodies," like the speaker and ostensibly the reader, who do their best to avoid it. The speaker fears that even telling anyone that there is now "a pair of us," that is, nobodies, outsiders, will lead to their very identities being advertised, and thus taken from them, for they will no longer be able to be the anonymous, free-thinking nobodies that they have chosen to be. In the world of this poem, then, the public sphere is about advertised or self-advertised identities: people marketing their names and their existence. This marketing becomes the only way for anyone to enter the public sphere. Talent itself is inconsequential, and thus for someone like Dickinson, or, ostensibly, the reader, who desires to think and to perform with meaning, rather than just maintaining their own fame, participation or recognition in this public world is impossible.

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"I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Summary The poem begins with an introduction from the speaker, who announces themselves as "Nobody!" They ask the identity of the addressee—which could be the reader—and if they're "Nobody" too. Presumably learning that the addressee is "Nobody" too, the speaker expresses that together they make a "pair" of "Nobodies." The speaker instructs the addressee not to tell anyone about this, because other people would make a fuss—which, the speaker implies, is something the addressee already knows. The speaker then talks about how boring it would be to be a "Somebody." It would leave nothing private. The speaker likens being a somebody to being a frog."Somebodies" spend their time talking themselves up to anyone who will give them attention and admire them, comparable to frogs making their noises in a swamp. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Themes Anonymity and Solitude "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" is a short but powerful poem that questions the need for attention, seeking instead to highlight the virtues of anonymity and isolation. In essence, it is a poem in praise of quiet, individual contemplation—the kind represented by Dickinson and her poetry itself. Indeed, though they may never meet, those individuals who choose to be "Nobodies" over "Somebodies" paradoxically form a subtle but powerful community. The poem strives to say that it's okay to be withdrawn, and that people aren't necessarily alone in feeling like they want to keep themselves to themselves. Note how the poem opens with an oxymoron: the speaker introduces themselves just like someone would in real life—by saying their name—except the speaker calls themselves "Nobody." The capitalization of this word subverts the typical social introduction, because the speaker isn't trying to cement their identity in someone else's mind. Instead, they are joyfully and enthusiastically claiming that they are "Nobody!" In other words, the speaker's name or identity is the absence of a name or identity. This is a proclamation, encouraging others to feel that it's okay to be "nobody too." From the beginning, then, it's clear that there's nothing wrong with or shameful about being nobody. (This could also relate specifically to Dickinson's acceptance that her poems would not find a wider audience during her lifetime.) Not only is being a "nobody" perfectly okay, but it's actually something of a badge of honor. In assuming that someone reading the poem will recognize themselves as a "nobody too," the speaker then expresses firm solidarity with them—which, ironically, means the speaker isn't really alone. Though some people might not want to draw attention to themselves or feel the need to network with their contemporaries, these people still form a kind of community. It exists, says the poem, and should be celebrated. The speaker knows that this thought goes against the status quo, and thus presents it as a kind of secret, imploring the reader not to tell the "somebodies" about the existence of what's essentially an underground network of "nobodies." Those "somebodies"—people who care about fame and recognition—would tell others about the "nobodies" (that is, they'd "advertise" their existence), which, in turn, would transform those "nobodies" into somebodies—the exact opposite of what the "nobodies" want! In the second stanza, the speaker calls out being "somebody" as "dreary." That is, it's not quiet, shy people who are boring—it's those people who don't have the inner resources to be by themselves. The implication is that these types of people are so preoccupied with singing their own name to the "admiring bog" all day that they miss something fundamental about being human. While it might be part of human nature to seek attention and socialization, it's also just as important to know how to be alone, and to find self-worth that isn't dependent on external approval. With characteristic brevity and humor, then, Dickinson's poem makes a bold point: it's okay—even powerful—to be anonymous. Indeed, in a world obsessed with social media and public perception, perhaps the poem is even more relevant now than at the time of writing. Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Lines 1-2 The poem argues in favor of outsiders and criticizes people who depend on others' attention for approval. It sets up this premise immediately with its emphatic opening statement, in which the speaker introduces themselves with an oxymoron. The speaker refers to themselves as "Nobody," the capitalization of the word making it read as a proper noun (like a person's first name). Not only is the speaker "Nobody," but they're also enthusiastic to say so, as shown by the exclamation mark caesura in the middle of line 1. In essence, this opening is a kind of parody. Overall, the poem questions those who are overly reliant on external approval—people whose lives are governed by garnering attention and being liked. This type of social behavior—at least from this poem's perspective—is a kind of performance, and the first line seems to deliberately mimic such behavior. It's almost like the opening remark of one businessperson meeting another for the first time, making sure that the other is under no illusion as to the first's identity. It echoes the language that two people might use when shaking hands and gives the impression that they're trying to impress each other. But while the line has the tone and insistence of a confident meeting, it is actually a deliberate expression of anonymity. That's why it's an oxymoron—you can't be "nobody" in the literal sense if you are a living, talking human being saying the word "nobody" out loud (or writing it on the page). With that in mind, then, "nobody" already means something different from what it might mean in a sentence like "nobody was there." Whereas in that example, "nobody" denotes an absence (there were no people around), "Nobody" here does precisely the opposite—it announces someone's presence. Following this proclamation, the speaker asks the reader—or an off-page addressee—who they are. In a way, this is a rhetorical question—the poem provides no answer in textual form, and whoever is on the receiving ends of the question can't answer. But of course, the rest of the poem undercuts this brilliantly by providing its own answers. This begins in the second line, with the speaker asking hesitantly whether the reader is a "nobody" too. The two caesurae in this line—the characteristic Dickinson dashes—create a sense of hesitation. This is important, because the poem overall is implying that most people are not willingly "Nobodies," but rather prefer to be "Somebodies." The speaker is so amazed to find another "Nobody" that the basic question ("Are you nobody too?") doesn't come easily—it's almost like the speaker is checking that this other "Nobody" is real. The word "too," though small, is crucial. It speaks to a process of recognition, as the speaker realizes that he or she isn't the only "Nobody" in the world. Thematically speaking, these lines establish a sense of solidarity between two people, showing the reader how connection can occur without seeking the approval of others. This is the poem's central paradox: a community of people based on anonymity, who, by virtue of their shyness (or just personal preference) are unlikely to ever actually meet face-to-face. Dickinson's inability to find literary fame during her lifetime is also relevant. People who don't seek fame and attention, the poem seems to suggest already , still make an important contribution to humanity and are capable of living happy lives.

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Form "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a short poem made up of two stanzas, each of which is a quatrain. It's also a poem of two halves in the sense that each quatrain does something distinctly different. The first stanza sees the speaker reaching out to another person—perhaps the reader and/or all the other "Nobodies" in the world—and introducing themselves as "Nobody." This quatrain is a kind of two-way conversation of which the reader sees only one side. The speaker feels an affinity with the addressee, and, in hushed and excited tones, implores this second person to keep the"Nobody" status that the two share a secret. The first stanza, then, is about identity and solidarity. The second stanza shifts the poem into a discussion about people who try to be "Somebody." By explaining some of the negative things about being a "Somebody," this stanza also makes it clearer what's good about being a "Nobody": being a "Nobody" is not dreary, public, or dependent on admiration. This quatrain also contains the poem's most overtly poetical moment, when the speaker uses a simile to liken "Somebodies" to noisy frogs. Meter The sound of the meter in "I'm Nobody! Who Are you?" is characteristic of Emily Dickinson's poetry more generally. Overall, the poem is generally iambic (meaning it follows an unstressed-stressed, or da DUM, syllable pattern.) We could classify it as going back and forth between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, but it never quite settles into something that feels especially regular, partly because of metrical variations and partly due to the use of punctuation. There is an awkwardness to the meter in the first line that pokes fun at the enthusiasm with which "Somebodies"—people who crave attention and admiration—introduce themselves. The exclamation mark halfway through the line makes the most probable scansion seem to be: I'm Nobody! Who are you? Looked at this way, the line stresses the "no-ness" of the introduction. That is, though the line sounds like somebody telling someone else their name, the stress on "no" actually highlights the fact the speaker doesn't have a name—or if they do, they feel no need to reveal it. Throughout the poem, all of the lines either have three or four stresses in them. The most regular-sounding line is line 7, which is iambic tetrameter that reads smoothly despite the dash: To tell | one's name | - the live- | long June - The meter in this line helps create a sense of plodding boredom, which is what the speaker perceives in the lives of "Somebodies." In contrast, then, the variability of the meter in the other lines highlights how being a "Nobody" is actually more fun and interesting than being a "Somebody." Rhyme Scheme The poem uses rhyme, but overall, it's too irregular to call it a scheme. The first two lines rhyme, and lines 6 and 8 form a rhymed pair as well. These two moments are significant, though. The first pair—you/too—helps establish the speaker's sense of excitement and disbelief that they have found a "you" [that is, another person] who is also a "Nobody." It shows a move towards kinship between the "I" and the "you"—which is what is required for there to be a "pair." Indeed, these two rhymed works make a pair, therefore underscoring this sudden, unlikely, and exciting pairing. "Too" shows that there is now more than "one," in the sense that "too" means "as well." So the existence of a "you" creates a "too" (and a two!) that shows that the speaker isn't alone in being "Nobody." The other rhyming pair is frog/bog. These make an obvious pair because the latter word describes the habitat of the first: frogs—or the frogs the poem refers to, at least—live in swampy bogs. This rhyme subtly reminds the reader that just as frogs have to live in their bogs, so too do "Somebodies" have to live in unappealing crowds full of other people competing for recognition. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Speaker The speaker in this poem is not specified, but identifies themselves as "Nobody." They see being nobody—which perhaps means being private and humble—as preferable to being "Somebody." "Somebodies," the speaker says, live boring lives in search of attention and admiration. Of course, there are significant parallels between the speaker's position and Dickinson's own life story and ideas. She sensed the worth of her poems , but quickly realized that they wouldn't find an audience during her lifetime. This was in part because she was a woman, but also because of the startling originality of her writing. In short, she knew she would "Nobody" in the sense of finding fame and admiration, and part of this poem's aim is to legitimize the status of the outsider. There's also a second speaker in the poem—but one whose voice the reader doesn't hear or see. In fact, it might even be the reader themselves! The speaker clearly gets a response to the poem's opening questions, with line 3 confirming that whoever the speaker is talking to is "Nobody" too. The beauty of the addressee's response being hidden is that the conversation between the poem and its audience essentially takes place every time the poem is read: anyone who identifies with what the speaker is saying can feel that they themselves are the second "Nobody" conversing with the speaker. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Setting This poem is a kind of conversation, without a specified place or time (or even addressee). The reader's only clue as to setting—which is not something the poem relies heavily upon—is in the tone of the speaker. The speaker is clearly surprised to stumble across another "Nobody," and the exclamation marks and dashes create a sense of hushed excitement around this discovery. Excitement because of the new discovery, and hushedness because to make too much noise about it would let the secret out. It seems, then, that this poem is taking place in a society where "Somebodies" are the norm; it's as if the world of the poem is one that's generally not welcoming to "Nobodies" who aren't interested in talking about themselves. In the second stanza, the poem makes mention of a "bog" where "a Frog" might live. But this is just in service of the simile—which compares "Somebodies" to frogs—rather than a specific setting. The second stanza, then, maintains the conversational setting of the first and also adds just a bit more detail about the world of the poem, implying that the society the speaker lives in may be dull and unpleasant, just like a bog. Literary and Historical Context of "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Literary Context Emily Dickinson was an American poet who lived in Amherst, Massachusetts during the 19th century. Perhaps more so than any other poet in the English language, she is a kind of singular entity. She published very little during her lifetime—indeed, published work was predominantly put out by men at that time—and was a famously reclusive figure, choosing to stay indoors for most of her adult life. This obscurity, of course, is part of the poem's subject matter; the poem could be read as Dickinson expressing her self-worth despite the lack of much external validation. Indeed, many of Dickinson's other poems address similar questions related to public vs. private life or extroverts vs. introverts, such as "Some work for Immortality" and "Fame of Myself, to justify." It wasn't until after Dickinson's death that much of her work was finally published, with her sister, Lavinia Dickinson, playing a major role in this process. Dickinson's reclusiveness, however, does not mean that she lacked literary influences. She is known to have valued the writings of William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as Charlotte Brontë and William Shakespeare. During her early life, Dickinson went to a religious school and continued to be preoccupied with questions about faith and the meaning of existence. Church texts, then, were also a major part of her literary context, and her poems often employ a meter and diction similar to that found in hymns. Dickinson's posthumous influence was far-reaching, and she is now considered one of the most important poets in the English language. Historical Context Dickinson grew up within a Puritan environment that placed great emphasis on the proper morality of the Christian tradition. Her father was a congressman and the patriarch of the family—and Dickinson could only begin writing her poetry because her father gave her permission. In this and countless other ways, Dickinson's gender affected her writing and career; put simply, she was a female author in a time and situation where women were discouraged from intellectua l pursuits. Dickinson's America was also one of religious revivalism, with competing ideas about the ways in which people ought to serve God, including the temperance movement of which her father was a part. The morality of slavery—and whether slavery should be abolished—was also an intensely debated issue at the forefront of the political scene, and which, of course, led to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Dickinson's brother, Austin, did not fight in the war, but she did have other friends and acquaintances who fought in the conflict. The poem makes a powerful point about social status and the reluctance to actively seek admiration from others. Dickinson herself is one of many people who have made key contributions to their cultures without feeling the need and/or ability to "advertise" themselves. Others include Alan Turing, whose codebreaking helped the Allies win World War II; Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist; and the author Primo Levi (among many more). French psychiatrist Ludovic Dugas calls these high-achieving quiet people les grandes timides. Of course, this poem isn't specifically about people who make significant contributions to their worlds—but it does support the idea that you don't need to strive for admiration from the "Bog" in order to make a difference.

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Frog In the poem's only instance of figurative imagery, the speaker compares being a "Somebody" to being like a frog. This frog is a "public" creature, which refers to the fact that frogs announce their presence (essentially, "tell" their "names") via loud croaks, while all the other frogs around them do the same thing. This comparison suggests that "Somebodies," too, like to talk about themselves all the "livelong" day to other "Somebodies." The frog here represents how vacuous and, frankly, annoying this tendency can be. This isn't really meant as an insult to frogs. The point is that these sounds are loud, grating, and uncouth (no one would characterize croaks as being sophisticated or lovely). A "bog" also isn't exactly a nice place to hang out—it's smelly and swampy, which makes being surrounded by "Somebodies" seem like a less than pleasant experience. And of course, these frog noises all sound pretty much the same! So, for all that "Somebodies" want to be recognized as unique and special, the way in which they go about this actually makes them all quite mundane and similar. The noises made by "Somebodies," then, are being gently mocked here, with the comparison suggesting that, for all their bluster, they are ultimately vapid and meaningless. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" Poetic Devices & Figurative Language Anaphora Anaphora occurs in the second stanza, both with the repeated "How" in lines 5 and 6 and with the repeated "To" in lines 7 and 8. To understand why anaphora is used here, it needs to be considered within the overall movement of the poem. The first stanza showed the speaker recognizing another "Nobody," speaking to this addressee in excited, hushed tones and imploring him or her not to tell anyone that the two have found each other. In other words, the first stanza develops the idea of being a "Nobody." The second stanza, however, is like a mirror image of the first, discussing instead the idea of "Somebody" (which also helps define "Nobody"). Put generally, the speaker believes that it's better to be "Nobody" and that it's actually quite boring—"dreary"—to be "Somebody." This is where the anaphora comes in—it helps create this sense of boredom and weariness, as though the speaker can hardly put up with the idea of another "Somebody" in the world. The two sets of lines in the second stanza feel repetitive and predictable—exactly the qualities that the speaker thinks "Somebodies" embody. The anaphora also makes it sound as though the speaker offers just two negative "Somebody" traits from a long list—the speaker could, if they wanted, name more flaws than dreariness and being public. Finally, the anaphora has an insistent sound to it, which mimics the way in which "Somebodies" try to impose their identity on the world in order to gain admiration and attention.

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Summary The speaker exclaims that she is "Nobody," and asks, "Who are you? / Are you— Nobody—too?" If so, she says, then they are a pair of nobodies, and she admonishes her addressee not to tell, for "they'd banish us—you know!" She says that it would be "dreary" to be "Somebody"—it would be "public" and require that, "like a Frog," one tell one's name "the livelong June— / To an admiring Bog!" Form The two stanzas of "I'm Nobody!" are highly typical for Dickinson, constituted of loose iambic trimeter occasionally including a fourth stress ("To tell your name—the livelong June—"). They follow an ABCB rhyme scheme (though in the first stanza, "you" and "too" rhyme, and "know" is only a half-rhyme, so the scheme could appear to be AABC), and she frequently uses rhythmic dashes to interrupt the flow. Featured on Sparknotes X 6 Books You'll HATE in High School But Love Later On | The SparkNotes Blog 6 Books You'll HATE in High School But Love Later On | The SparkNotes Blog Powered By Commentary Ironically, one of the most famous details of Dickinson lore today is that she was utterly un-famous during her lifetime—she lived a relatively reclusive life in Amherst, Massachusetts, and though she wrote nearly 1,800 poems, she published fewer than ten of them. This poem is her most famous and most playful defense of the kind of spiritual privacy she favored, implying that to be a Nobody is a luxury incomprehensible to the dreary Somebodies—for they are too busy keeping their names in circulation, croaking like frogs in a swamp in the summertime. This poem is an outstanding early example of Dickinson's often jaunty approach to meter (she uses her trademark dashes quite forcefully to interrupt lines and interfere with the flow of her poem, as in "How dreary— to be—Somebody!"). Further, the poem vividly illustrates her surprising way with language. `The juxtaposition in the line "How public—like a Frog—" shocks the first-time reader, combining elements not typically considered together, and, thus, more powerfully conveying its meaning (frogs are "public" like public figures—or Somebodies—because they are constantly "telling their name"— croaking—to the swamp, reminding all the other frogs of their identities).