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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” is an eight-line poem divided into two quatrains, or four-line stanzas. Dickinson identifies herself in the first line as a “Nobody” with a capital “N” and an authorial “I” (Line 1), connecting her personal experiences and thoughts to Pronouns and their importance in this poem. She juxtaposes her nobody status by rhetorically asking, presumably the reader, who they are. This first line has ironic qualities in that the abrupt announcement of being something that is normally negative is exaggerated into a positive. This exaggeration in turn leads to comedic effect and also an unexpected tone of pride. Most “nobodies” do not announce or even know other people to announce their status. In the second line, the speaker narrows her question even further by asking anyone, the reader specifically, if they are also a nobody. She uses dashes around the word “Nobody” to pause and provide emphasis on the word, using a poetic device known as caesura. In the third line, Dickinson assumes the answer from the prior question is a yes and announces that “there’s a pair of us” (Line 3), with the ending punctuation mark an exclamation point, seemingly expressing enthusiasm.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
After great pain, a formal feeling comes
After great pain, a formal feeling comes
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson