Identity and Survival in “i Am Nobody” by Emily Dickinson and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost (Essay Sample)

Dickinson’s poem expresses identity and survival. This poem talks about being a nobody and being somebody. This poem also talks about being alone in the world. To survive you need people. You also need a sense of belonging and people give you that but if you’re alone or feel lonely then you’ll feel like your life is falling apart which is not really surviving. One of the quotes in the poem is “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” This quote is talking about how the narrator feels like a nobody which goes with the theme of identity. “Are you - Nobody - too? Then there’s a pair of us!”. I believe this quote means that the narrator found someone who feels the same way they do. It also says that the narrator doesn’t have to go through feeling like a nobody alone anymore and that she finally met a person that gets how she feels. 

Frost’s poem expresses survival because in the poem it basically says that something happens but then people move on. In the poem it also talks about how people get something valuable but it doesn’t last forever and people move on but then it happens again. That’s the cycle of life. For example one of the quotes is “So Eden sank to grief    So dawn comes down to day”. This quote is talking about how a person that has something precious to them but it fades away so the person mourns and mourns but as time passes by they move on. So the person mourns and mourns but as time passes by the person moves on. Another quote is “Nothing gold can stay''. This quote basically means that nothing or nothing valuable lasts forever which goes with survival.

To wrap up my argument both of these poems talk about identity and survival. Figurative language is also used in these poems. Dickinson’s poem has rhyme, metaphors, and similes. Frost’s poem has rhyme and metaphors. The reason I’m talking about the figurative language in these poems is because the way that the authors use it also expresses the theme of the poems which is identity and survival. Dickinson and Frost use many techniques to express the themes but the main one is the word choice.