These are the only two authenticated photos of Emily Dickinson later than her childhood.

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! How dreary – to be – Somebody! How public – like a Frog – How public – like a Frog – To tell one's name – the livelong June – To tell one's name – the livelong June – To an admiring Bog! Rhyme Scheme AABCDEFE The meter of this poem is composed of loose iambic triameter.

In Dickinson’s poem, “I am Nobody! Who are You?”, the speaker first tells the reader that she (the speaker) is “nobody”. She goes on to ask the reader who he or she is, and then asks if this person is also “nobody”. Assuming the answer is yes, Dickinson seems excited to have found someone else who is “nobody”. She tells the reader not to tell anyone, because “they’d advertise”, meaning the speaker and the reader would lose the ability to stand apart from the rest of the world. The speaker tells the reader that to be “somebody” is dreary. She compares “somebody’s” to frogs, constantly “croaking” their name in public, and forcing themselves to seem important. The “admiring bog” represents those who follow and support these public figures. This poem shows that Emily Dickinson is a non-conformist, and believes that the public figures have nothing important to say except for making their own name popular.

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10 th, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Emily was a very smart child, and she was always writing short rhyming stories that she read to her classmates. As she grew older, Emily became a very private person. She was uncomfortable and shy in a social setting, and by the time she was in her twenties she spent almost all of her time in her house. Emily kept contact with the outside world through letters. These letters, sent to family members and other thought provoking people, were usually very emotional. While living in seclusion, Emily wrote over 1,700 poems that were not found until her death from Bright’s disease in Her sister found these poems, and ignored Emily’s request to burn her old manuscripts. Vinnie, Emily’s sister, took these poems to Mabel Todd, a frequent visitor to the Dickinson family home, and she typed up 200 of her poems. The first edition of Emily’s poems was published in 1893.