and risk the following question: ‘‘Are you nobody
too?’’ And this other person may nod affirma-
tively. If they are not quiet, these two will draw
attention to themselves. Others may look at them
disapprovingly, perhaps as impolite or even rude.
Worse yet, they may be overheard in the front and
drawn into the public conversation if someone at
the podium were to ask, ‘‘Is there a question from
the back?’’ In which event, the clandestine and
anonymous club of two would suddenly be extin-
guished. The whisperer might be criticized for
interrupting by people in the front rows. Such is
one scene Emily Dickinson’s little poem ‘‘I’m
Nobody! Who are you?’’ suggests.
The dramatic monologue also gives hints
about the speaker and sometimes these hints are
ironic, in the sense that what the speaker thinks is
being revealed may be different from what the
poet is suggesting or the reader intuits. One
irony is that in identifying herself as a nobody to
even one other person, the speaker is no longer a
nonentity. The speaker is recognized via the intro-
duction; the other observes the speaker as a per-
son, with a certain affect and tone of voice. The
introduction that proclaims no importance or
rank or social connection invites recognition
from the person who is addressed. As soon as
that recognition occurs, the speaker has imposedWHAT
DO I READ
NEXT? Emily(1992), a fictional story for kinder-
gartners through third graders, written by
Michael Bedard and beautifully illustrated
by Caldecott Medal-winning artist Barbara
Cooney, is the story about a visit to the
poet’s home paid by a neighbor woman
and her daughter. In the story, the mother
performs on the Dickinsons’ piano. The
child wanders away and discovers the poet
listening upstairs.
In 1965, Aileen Lucia Fisher published a
novel suitable for middle-school readers.
Written from the point of view of the poet’s
brother,We Dickinsons: The Life of Emily
Dickinson As Seen through the Eyes of Her
Brother Austindescribes the family when the
children were young and follows their expe-
riences through the poet’s early forties and
the visit of Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
The Sister: A Novel of Emily Dickinson(2006)
was written in Spanish by Paola Kaufmann
and translated into English by William Row-
landson. The novel is told from the point of
view of Lavinia and begins ten years after the
poet’s death, when Emily Dickinson is
already famous and the sisters’ parents are
dead. Vinnie remembers the family as they
were, describing the household, explainingthe poet’s reclusiveness as embarrassment
over Austin’s flagrant affair with Mabel Loo-
mis Todd, and describing Dickinson’s final
illness and death.
The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson,written
by Jerome Charyn and published in 2010 by
Norton, takes as its premise that the poet was
not an old maid. Her brother referred to the
poet as his wild sister, and Charyn takes him
at his word. A student of American history,
Charyn has written a novel that is both infor-
mative and entertaining. It includes many
historical figures and some fictional ones
and tells a story that is both disturbing and
delightful.
Steve Kowit’s charming and usefulIn the
Palm of Your Hand: The Poet’s Portable
Workshop(1995) provides people who are
interested in learning how to write poetry
with excellent suggestions, writing prompts,
and examples by lesser known poets.
Still an excellent resource for people who want
to read all of her poems,The Complete Poems
of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H.
Johnson in 1955, provides most of the poems,
along with subject and first line indices.I’m Nobody! Who are you?