I Am Nobody, Who Are You? Essay Example

Many individuals author poems because they wish to convey their inner thoughts and feelings to an audience that may feel the same way about themselves. An Agony. As Now. by Amiri Baraka and I am no body, who are you? by Emily Dickinson follow this trend. Both narrators feel as if they are misunderstood and are looking to comfort themselves by sharing their feelings of loneliness with the reader. While both narrators feel lost and alone for different reasons, it is important to consider that their purpose in sharing their works are similar; while they are not certain how their problems can be solved, they are seeking to reduce their psychological load by sharing their thoughts with one another.

In An Agony. As Now., the narrator is viewing herself through the eyes of an individual who hates her. However, she claims that the physical body is not really important and while this does not console her fully, this recognition helps her become more comfortable with her anger. She shares her situation in poetic form to enable the reader to understand how she is feeling and to connect if this individual has felt this way before as well. In I am no body, who are you, the narrator serves this same purpose. However, in the poem, she notes that she cannot be the only individual that feels like no body. She states “Are you – Nobody – too? Then there’s a pair of us!” However, instead of wishing to be a different person, she justifies her feelings saying that it is challenging to be a meaningful person in life, so it is perhaps better being no one. This narrator also wishes to connect to the audience, helping them cope with their emotional needs. Overall, she indicates that it is important to accept ones role in life, whether this might bring happiness or something else.

It is important to consider that the purpose of both of these poems are similar, which is also a uniting theme of poetry in general. While many authors aim to write poetry for themselves, their choice to publish these works indicate that they wish for them to be shared. Both authors wish to share their feelings to be comforted, but the ways in which they do so are different. The author of An Agony. As Now. is one such of these authors because after her work was completed, it was published and shared with the public almost instantly. However, the author of I am no body, who are you? wrote for a completely different purpose. A majority of Emily Dickinson’s work was not published until after her death. Therefore, it is evident that Dickinson only wished to share her work with her paper, which allowed her to understand and recognize her feelings.

In conclusion, both narrators write their poems to connect with the audience, even though the audiences differ, and become more comfortable about their feelings. However, the author of An Agony. As Now. does this to connect with individuals who were called a no body by someone else, while the author of I am no body, who are you? writes as a consequence of her own feelings that she is no one. It is evident from these poems that poets use their written word to cope with their emotional states, which in turn helps the audience cope with theirs as well.

Works Cited

Baraka A. An Agony. As Now. 1964. Web. 17 July 2015.

Dickinson E. I am nobody, who are you? 1979. Web. 17 July 2015.