I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

Dickinson speaks in absolutes in this poem, primarily with the use of “Nobody” in the first stanza and “Somebody” in the second. Her language for the “Somebody” stanza includes “dreary” (Line 5) and “bog” (Line 8), suggesting a negative connotation or atmosphere. At the same time, her language for the “Nobody” stanza uses words like “pair” (Line 3), which seem more favorable in tone. This dichotomy depicts experience as either this or that, with either negative or positive associations supporting the dichotomy. As the poem progresses, however, Dickinson’s language offers wiggle room—a shade of gray—with which readers can also interpret the poem.

Within this seemingly black-and-white poem that suggests privacy is good and anything that opposes privacy is bad, there is room for interpretation. Dickinson describes the frog as “public” (Line 6), which is a word assumed to be negative in this poem, but there almost seems to be a sense of pity for the frog telling its name all “the livelong June” (Line 7). This interpretation might suggest that living things are complicated in their desires, as they feel compelled to be somebodies when perhaps they want to be nobodies or vice versa. The frog itself, while reminiscent of what the princess does not want to kiss, is also known as an innocuous creature.