In this poem, Dickinson speaks with the voice of a child. As a child in society, especially in her era, you had no rights. You are a possession of your parents to be trotted out and admired by their visitors, otherwise, you are kept quietly closeted in your room or nursery.
This poem could be considered as ironic if in fact, the child really wants to be admired and looked at by his/her parents and visitors.
"How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog"!
Or is the author suggesting that children looking at adults feel that their lives are better and more genuine, because they don't have to mix in society and embrace the phoniness that can accompany certain social events? Or is she saying that the children are being sarcastic and wishing that they could be noticed?
In any case, the author seems to be commenting on both the role of children in society and that of the adults that are around them. She is questioning society's value system.
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