poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

This is by far my favorite poem. I believe that it symbolizes everything society has made itself out to be-- superheros and celeberitys would be nothing without the public that is admiring them. sometimes people just wish to be lef to themselves and get away from the glamor of being known everywhere.

Emily is giving words of encouragement for anybody that feels they are not 'good enough' for the world.

~~* please excuse my spelling error of 'celebrity' in my previous post *~~

This poem really struck me with its quick, sharp humor, which I don't see so much elsewhere in Dickinson. Really made me laugh. And I think it explains, in a relatively positive way, Emily's reclusiveness, which people today tend to see as strange or depressing. It really seems, here, that Emily declined publication because she knew how good her work was, and that it would quite likely make her famous. I guess she wasn't betraying her modesty, either, if she was right.

I'm intrigued that there are two substantially different versions of this poem, and that no one (on the Internet, at least) seems to know them both, or what their relation is. The "advertise" version, usually numbered 288, was once obscure, but now seems to have driven the other version out of Dickinson's collected works, at least on the 'net. Before the post-1960's flood of Dickinson scholarship, the following version (with not-so-Dickinsonian punctuation) was much better known.



I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there's a pair of us--don't tell!

They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

When I was an undergraduate at Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, I had the distinct pleasure of studying American literature with Margaret Manning McIninch. She was a vibrant classical scholar who encouraged thought. thought. I remember very clearly her comments on 'I'm nobody! Who are you'. I was able to incorporate the poem into my totality. I have never forgotten the poem. Often I have quoted the poem to sensetive people. The poem was much appreciated.
Thank you for your site.
grant noland
Barrie, Canada

I'd only ever seen the second (not published on this site) version until now. I prefer it.

i have just seen the second version of emily dickinson's poem...i like it better then the one i have to learn for my final exam...i could say that this poem stands out from her usually dark and pesimistic songs, which still carry a positive meaning...kinda help you get through in this rotten world...

I really love this poem. It is definetly one of my most favorites. It gives the reader the sense of still being connected to the world even though they might be a "nobody." In actuality, the "nobodies" are really somebodies. This just reminded me of a song by Marylin Manson titled "Nobodies."

This poem is indeed quite different from Dickinson's other poetry. She displays the dark side of the lime light in "I'm Nobody." In my opinion, Dickinson implies that the public is bored and thrives on the overexposure of the "somebody"s. Her poem is controversial and confusing as she the two stanzas disjoint and very vague.

I've heard both versions of this poem but I am more familiar and prefer the second version which also includes the line the livelong June instead of the livelong day.