"The Quiet Life" and "I'm Nobody! Who are you?"

“The Quiet Life” by Alexander Pope describes a man truly content with his place in the world. It describes how this man is “content to breathe his native air,” suggesting that he has succeeded in fulfilling all of his aspirations. The poem goes on to state to suggest that he is supplied his needs through “herds with milk… flocks with attire… trees in summer yield[ing] shade.” This quote establishes that the man’s needs are met through his career (presumed to be farming).  The last stanza of the poem includes a request that is subsequently explained through his own intentions: “Thus let me live, unseen, unknown…” “Steal from the world, and not a stone.” These quotes indicate that he wishes to leave as little of an impact on the world at large as he possibly can. He is concerned only with living out his aspirations, and in return for this isolation, he has no intention to negatively affect the world around him. 

The next poem I chose was “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Emily Dickinson. It’s a short, simple poem, and the entire reason I chose it was to juxtapose it with the previously selected poem. Initially, it appears that the narrator is actually satisfied being a “nobody,” even stating that it is dreary “to be – Somebody!” but the lines before contradict this statement. “Are you – Nobody – too?”  the author asks inquisitively, “Then there’s a pair of us!” The exclamation mark appears to convey a sense of excitement, which the narrator wants to share this status. However, by sharing this status, it invalidates the concept of being “nobody,” as now you are a part of a group involving another, turning both into something of note. The narrator clearly realizes it, stating, “Don’t tell! They’d advertise – you know!” This shows that the narrator is very much aware of his or her new status as no longer truly being a “nobody” in the world now that there is someone that shares that status.

Of course, the interesting contrast between these poems is that while “The Quite Life” has a man seeking solitude, content with how he has etched out his life, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” has a narrator seeking a group to belong in, seemingly nervous about his or her role in the world. It is not hard to imagine that the narrator of the latter may very well eventually take up the same position as the narrator of the former as he or she etches out her own role in life. I suppose the overall idea one can draw between these two poems is that knowing one’s own place in the world, how they belong, leads to a confident contentedness with his or her own life.