Emily Dickinson´s biography

Emily Dickinson was a reclusive American poet. Unrecognized in her own time, Dickinson is known posthumously for her innovative use of form and syntax.

Who Was Emily Dickinson?

Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson left school as a teenager, eventually living a reclusive life on the family homestead. There, she secretly created bundles of poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. Due to a discovery by sister Lavinia, Dickinson's remarkable work was published after her death—on May 15, 1886, in Amherst—and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American literature.

Early Life and Education

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family had deep roots in New England. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was well known as the founder of Amherst College. Her father worked at Amherst and served as a state legislator. He married Emily Norcross in 1828 and the couple had three children: William Austin, Lavinia Norcross and middle child Emily.

An excellent student, Dickinson was educated at Amherst Academy (now Amherst College) for seven years and then attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for a year. Though the precise reasons for Dickinson's final departure from the academy in 1848 are unknown; theories offered say that her fragile emotional state may have played a role and/or that her father decided to pull her from the school. Dickinson ultimately never joined a particular church or denomination, steadfastly going against the religious norms of the time.

I'm Nobody! Who Are You? Summary

Emily Dickinson’s short poem beginning “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” is typical of her work in many ways. It is brief; it is untitled; it is whimsical and thought-provoking; and it also displays her characteristic disregard for conventional punctuation and sentence structure (or “syntax”). The poem not only addresses individuality and nonconformity but also exemplifies them in its content and style.

The poem begins, as so many of Dickinson’s poems do, with a paradox in the first line: “I’m Nobody!” To claim that one is a nobody reveals that one is a somebody, that one exists and has an independent identity, even if that personal identity is defined by an absence of social identity. The claim that one is nobody may suggest that one is disregarded by others, but it may also be a way of asserting one’s humility and freedom from narcissism or self-centeredness. Ironically, if the speaker feels that she is “Nobody” because others ignore her, then her poem is a way of defying that kind of treatment—a way of making sure that she is indeed noticed. In the very act of saying “I am Nobody,” she calls herself to our attention.

The second half of line 1 asks, “Who are you?” Although the speaker is ignored or humble, or both, she is not unfriendly. She immediately reaches out to the unnamed “you,” a reference perhaps to the reader. It is as if the speaker were trying to establish a dialogue with another person who can never respond. Thus, paradoxically, her attempt to communicate has the effect of emphasizing her isolation. The whole first stanza can be read as an attempt by the speaker to break free of the isolation, the sense of non-importance, the sense of being a “Nobody” that has been imposed upon her.