18 pages 36 minutes read

Emily Dickinson

I'm Nobody! Who Are You?

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1891

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” consists of eight lines, or two four-line stanzas known as quatrains. While the form is not entirely consistent, there is the presence of iambic trimeter, or a pattern of unstressed/stressed within three pairs of syllables, with two lines following iambic tetrameter, a pattern of unstressed/stressed within four pairs of syllables, throughout the poem. There are certain exceptions in which the syllabic pairs are trochaic, stressed/unstressed, rather than iambic. No consistent rhyme scheme is present in both quatrains, yet a description of the rhyme might be AABC in Stanza 1 and ABCB in Stanza 2, as end rhyme is used: “you” / “too” (Lines 1-2) and “frog” / “bog” (Lines 6, 8). Many of the line endings have an exclamation point, which in today’s email and text culture might seem overused. Here, the use makes clear the speaker’s feelings that she is passionate about the subject—both on what she wants to be and what she does not want to be.

Caesura/Dashes

Dickinson uses caesura, or a pause in the middle of a line, through the employment of dashes to show emphasis and even mild hesitation before particular words. For example, in Line 2, she uses dashes around the word “Nobody” (Line 2) as if tentatively asking the reader if they share her “nobody” status.

Related Titles

By Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A Bird, came down the Walk

Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A Clock stopped—

Emily Dickinson

A Clock stopped—

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

After great pain, a formal feeling comes

Emily Dickinson

After great pain, a formal feeling comes

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)

Emily Dickinson

A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)

Emily Dickinson

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Emily Dickinson

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

"Faith" is a fine invention

Emily Dickinson

"Faith" is a fine invention

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)

Emily Dickinson

Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Hope is a strange invention

Emily Dickinson

Hope is a strange invention

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Can Wade Grief

Emily Dickinson

I Can Wade Grief

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind

Emily Dickinson

I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain

Emily Dickinson

I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking

Emily Dickinson

If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

If I should die

Emily Dickinson

If I should die

Emily Dickinson

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

If you were coming in the fall

Emily Dickinson

If you were coming in the fall

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

I heard a Fly buzz — when I died

Emily Dickinson

I heard a Fly buzz — when I died

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

Emily Dickinson

Much Madness is divinest Sense—

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Success Is Counted Sweetest

Emily Dickinson

Success Is Counted Sweetest

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Emily Dickinson

Study Guide

logo

The Only News I Know

Emily Dickinson

The Only News I Know

Emily Dickinson