I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Emily Dickinson (written c. 1861; published 1891)
A short, playful Dickinson poem on the pleasure of obscurity over public fame.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
Like "Hope is the thing with feathers," this poem was likely written around 1861 and not published until 1891, five years after Dickinson's death. Its playful tone — "How dreary — to be — Somebody!" — stands somewhat apart from the more solemn reputation Dickinson later acquired, and it's often the first Dickinson poem introduced to young readers because of its humor and its short, direct lines.
The poem's second stanza builds a single extended comparison — public fame as being a frog croaking its name to an admiring bog all summer — packed into four lines. Copying it slowly gives a reader time to notice how much work that one image is doing, turning an abstract complaint about fame into something almost comic.
What to watch for
- 8 exclamation and question marks: ask the child how the sentence should sound when read aloud, and why the writer chose that mark.
- 5 apostrophes: sort each one into possession (the shepherd's staff) or a missing letter (don't = do not).
- Capital letters in the middle of a sentence: Nobody, Somebody, Frog, June, Bog. Ask why each one is capitalized before typing it.
- Longest word: "advertise" (9 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 8 lines averaging about 5 words each. A comfortable line length for a single sitting.
Full text (reference)
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 -
To tell one's name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!