The Recognition Self-Worth and Appreciation in Poetry

I picked John Milton’s “When I consider how my light is spent” and Emily Dickinson’s “I’m nobody! Who are you?” mainly because we see two radically different looks on the topic of self-worth and the obstacles and achievements that came with trying to find it. Self-appreciation is a defining characteristic in our society and something that drives a lot of success and failure in life.

To begin, let’s go ahead and start with the message trying to be conveyed in each. On first read, Milton’s poem seems a little bit more sorrowful than Dickinson’s. What makes me think this at first is on lines 3-4 of Milton’s poem, where he says “And that one talent which death is to hide/Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent”. At first, we as the audience feel sympathetic for Milton as we start to think his purpose in life is fading fast after going, whereas lines 1-2 of Dickinson’s piece feel much more warm and welcoming on that first read. “I’m Nobody! Who are you?/ Are you—Nobody—too?”. This looks like Dickinson is building up a community much like an island of misfit toys, and essentially goes on a limb saying she’s one of them.

However, what changes my original view on the two poems is their development through their respective course. While Dickinson does validate the claim of community that “Then there’s a pair of us!”, it’s quickly contradicted with the following line, “Don’t tell! they’d advertise—you know!” It doesn’t make much sense. Why would someone who’s leading this new community want to keep it from being known? Perhaps she’s trying to bring people down to her level. We see a different transformation with Milton, who says (via murmur), “God doth not need/Either man’s work or his own gifts”. This validates Milton’s life as being good enough in the eyes of God. Follow this up with “who best/Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.”, and you get a much more uplifting portrayal of culture and self-worth from Milton as opposed to Dickinson.