E block--Dimitar on 288

Dimitar Dimitrov

September 8, 2011

Poem 288: Close Reading

Emily Dickenson’s poem 288 is very peculiar in more ways than one.  Apart from its meaning, it has very unusual structure and flow.  What is perhaps most interesting, however, is the word choice.  Although all of the words are carefully picked, most short and concise on purpose, there are three words that, to me, stick out the most: advertise, dreary and livelong.

The first of the three is used to describe what the Somebody’s would do to the narrator and her friend were they to be discovered.  At a first reading, the sole meaning is that they will no longer be Nobody’s, that they will become known to the world.  But the fact that the author chose the word “advertise” over any other verb meaning “to make public” shows that there’s more to it than simply revealing their secret.  Both the perpetrators and the audience of the advertising is presumably the Somebody’s.  Quite simply, it pokes fun at them – it shows how they are entertained by those they think of as less.  When they find a Nobody, they want to share – to boast what they believe is their own high social rank.  Because of this one word, the reader, though maybe subliminally, perceives the Somebody’s as less – they seem pathetic, in need of attention.  Without having created a direct offense, the poet is already planting her idea.

This category of personalities starts to seem even less appealing because of the adjective “dreary”.  The way dreary is used is almost as interesting as the decision to use it.  The first line of the second stanza starts with “How dreary”.  The second one starts with “How public”. Because of this repetition and because of the rhythm used, “public” and “dreary” seem to be synonymous.  In fact, since “public” is used second, it seems to be a subcategory, a specification of “dreary”.  Wait, what? Dreary means dull, boring – those are stereotypically qualities associated with solitude and loneliness, not with the glamour of publicity!  Yet to the speaker, the other life – the “Somebody” life – is the one that inherently seems dreary.  Not only is this an unusual and almost ironic way to describe fame (or at least a person’s desire for fame), but its poetical connection with the word “public” makes it a powerful adjective to describe Somebody, thus further diminishing their imposed importance.

The word that perhaps sticks out the most is “livelong”, simply because it is an unusual word to use and because it doesn’t fit with the length of the other words in the poem.  This draws one’s attention to it.  Its purpose in the poem is very similar to the other two words used.  “Livelong” means “whole”.  The Frog tells its name the whole June.  Never mind that June is only 30 days long.  The Frog’s minutes of fame are used to the full extent.  This is the heaviest blow to those who seek fame.  It completely discredits their achievements, revealing how insignificant – and short – they really are.  Even without the need for conscious analysis, this word choice, combined with the other unusual elements of the poem, successfully humiliates some people’s inborn need to stand out, to croak their name to the public, to have the personal satisfaction of being a Somebody, at least for a little while.  Simultaneously, it leaves the Nobody as the bigger person.