"A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" is a poem written by Emily Dickinson, one of the most famous and influential poets in American literature. In this poem, Dickinson uses vivid imagery and personification to describe a snake, and in doing so, delves into themes of fear, danger, and the unknown.
The poem begins with the line "A narrow fellow in the grass / Occasionally rides," which immediately sets the scene and introduces the subject of the poem: a snake. The use of the phrase "narrow fellow" suggests that the snake is slender and slim, while the word "occasionally" implies that the snake is not always present, adding a sense of mystery and unpredictability to the creature.
As the poem progresses, Dickinson uses personification to give the snake human-like qualities. She describes the snake as "riding" and "passing" through the grass, suggesting that the snake is in control and has agency in its movements. The snake is also described as "unseen," which adds to the sense of danger and uncertainty surrounding it.
The poem then shifts to describe the speaker's reaction to the snake. The speaker admits to feeling "fear" and "trembling" at the sight of the snake, and describes it as a "fellow" that they "know." This use of the word "fellow" suggests that the speaker and the snake are equals, and implies that the speaker has had previous encounters with the snake.
In the final lines of the poem, the speaker compares the snake to a "dreadful guest," further emphasizing the fear and danger that the snake represents. The use of the word "dreadful" suggests that the snake is something to be avoided or feared, and the word "guest" suggests that the snake is not welcome or desired.
Overall, "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" is a powerful and evocative poem that uses vivid imagery and personification to explore themes of fear, danger, and the unknown. Dickinson's use of language and poetic devices effectively convey the sense of fear and uncertainty that the snake elicits in the speaker, and the poem serves as a reminder of the inherent dangers that exist in the world around us.
Analysis Of Emily Dickensons Poem: A Narrow Fellow In The Grass, Sample of Essays
In the second stanza of Emily's poem, the speaker begins by saying that, the snake likes a boggy acre Parkin-Gounelas, 2018. This is one of Dickinson's most famous poems, and one of the few published during her lifetime—though that publication was anonymous, and she didn't approve the publisher's edits especially not the addition of a title, "The Snake," which really gives the game away. Emily Dickinson 's poem, "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", is believed to have been written in 1865, and is a vivid portrayal of one of the most infamous creatures of the natural world, the snake. Literary energy was not limited to New England and intellectual circles of Harvard and Cambridge. However, the poem focuses on the animal world. The Emily Dickinson Handbook.
A Literary Analysis of a Narrow Fellow in the Grass by Emily Dickinson
The second is the date of publication online or last modification online. Born in 1830, Emily Dickinson lived her whole life within the few miles around her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. While there were distinct literary and intellectual voices in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries—poets Phillis Wheatley and Anne Brad-street, the writings of Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, and the stories of Hannah Webster Foster and Charles Brockden Brown, to name a few—America as of yet had no strong literary tradition it could truly call its own. The author has chosen to write a poem on a male speaker, who narrates his experiences as he encounters a snake as he is running on the grass barefooted. When the persona talks about the snake closing your feet in the first stanza of the poem, this makes the reader figure himself or herself in the shoes of the speaker and feel exactly what the persona has also felt at the meeting of the serpent.
Analysis Of Emily Dickensons Poem: A Narrow Fellow in the Grass
The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. The imagery is used to introduce fear or anxiety through a snake. Although these two female poets are the most prominent feminist in America, their symbolism is understood through a deep psychological analysis. The poem closes with an expression of respectful fear for the snake. Wolff, Cynthia Griffin, Emily Dickinson, Knopf, 1986. Her posing of the question to the reader in the third line "You may have met him, -did you not? Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1998.