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 one's name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
Emily Dickinson is famous not only for her posthumous success as a poet, but also for the famous isolation and solitude of her life. While this poem seems, at first reading, to feel somewhat pained, it is instead a playful reminder. Those who constantly seek celebrity
and their cohorts are as plentiful as the loud croaking of FROGS. Further, those who are the hangers-on are nothing but an "admiring bog" (not a pleasant thought!)
The speaker addresses the audience and invites that audience in, to make "a pair of us"--isn't two pleasant company compared to the dreariness of thousands of unknowns pretending to be one's friends?
Maybe this poem gets to the heart of "Twitter" and "Facebook." On these social networks, everyone gets a chance to be heard, shouting out their feeling, opinions, even photos and videos, all calling "Please notice me!"
As for me, you know, I am happy when I am called by name or by an endearment. In LA, endearments, especially in traffic, are few and far between.
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Cheers,
Dan
fee