Poetry

The two poems I chose were "The Quiet Life" by Alexander Pope and "Im Nobody, who are you?" by Emily Dickinson. Both of these poems focus on the importance of living outside the pains and conflicts that come with fame and culture. Pope says he is just "content to breathe his nature air." This is saying that he has no intention of being caught up in the fast turmoil of our culture but is happier just to live in quiet isolation with complete anonymity. Dickinson is similar in that she says "dont tell! They'd advertise- you know." She is saying that it is important to remain anonymous or else you will be swept up in a fury of outside distractions. She says it is much more important to be a nobody than somebody lost in that turmoil. Both would agree it is better to "steal from the world, not a stone" because neither wishes to leave any major impact on the world around them, just live out their lives in isolation and without conflict from the outside.