I’m Nobody! Who Are You?
Two quatrains that make a boast out of self-erasure. Dickinson defends anonymity, recruits the reader into a secret club, and reduces fame to a frog in a bog.
Theme
fame
3 poems
fame
To an Athlete Dying Young
The same gesture carries two meanings: shouldered in victory, shouldered to the grave. Housman’s elegy makes a case for early death it doesn’t quite trust.
Lycidas (Selected Excerpts)
Milton’s pastoral elegy blends classical rite and Christian prophecy, turning grief into renewed vocation.