Emily Dickinson wrote over a thousand poems in her lifetime. Several of her works have been quoted and examined by critical writers for years. Emily Dickinson was a social recluse and spent much of her adult life in her room, writing poetry that was mostly never seen until after her death. She continues to be recognized as a very prolific American poet and her works have continued to be taught in the classroom. One important element to remember about Emily Dickinson's work is that most of them did not have titles and so in most publications they are referred to either by their first line or they are numbered. Additional information on Emily Dickinson's biography will be provided next class, however, feel free to get a general idea of her life/work using wikipedia. A poem I would like us to discuss for next class is:
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!
Task:
What do you think Dickinson is trying to say here? Is it better to be a nobody than a "somebody"? What does the last two lines of the poem mean? Define what a "bog" is in your response. Please also refer to the link provided on a further interpretation of the work: I'm Nobody, Who are You?
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