Poetry Analysis: "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass", by Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson, in her poem, "A Narrow Fellow In The Grass", appears to write in a way that could be referred to as a nursery rhyme for a child, with its six stanzas of four lines each. (1)

It is as if she writes from another voice too, not just from her personal, childhood experience. There is more than one version of her poem about the snake. Note the changes in this earlier version. It reads as if it is from the voice of a young boy. This includes her capital letters and general formatting.

Examine these lines and see how differently the poem reads, noting the use of the word Boy.

"Yet when a Boy and Barefoot-" (2)

The other version reads as if it is spoken by the voice of a child.

"Yet when a child and barefoot" (3)

The following line has been changed also, in terms of the reference to the time of day. The earlier one reads,

"I more than once at Noon" (4)

The other version shows that the time of day is morning, although it could be either early or late morning.

"I more than once at morn" (5)

This is not a major transition in the poem, but noted out of interest. Why would this have been changed?

Perhaps it was not appropriate for a girl to be fascinated by snakes? Maybe the change in the time of day, had something to do with going to school and noon. It may not have been the actual time of day, when this experience happened to her. Or, perhaps it was an experience recounted to her, by someone else?

Now compare this to the original version of the poem:

“A Narrow Fellow In The Grass”, by Emily Dickinson

A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides -
you may have met Him - 
did you not
His notice sudden is -

The Grass divides as with a Comb -
A spotted shaft is seen -
And then it closes at our feet
And opens further on -

He likes a Boggy Acre
A Floor too cool for Corn -
Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot -
I more than once at Noon

Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash
Unbraiding in the Sun
When stooping to secure it
It wrinkled, and was gone -

Several of Nature's people
I know, and they know me -
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality -

But never met this Fellow
Attended, or alone
Without a tighter breathing
And Zero at the Bone - (6)

This poem contains wonderful imagery and the capitalized words lend a bit of literary excellence to it. Maybe Emily Dickinson did have a fascination for snakes, but she seemed to be afraid of them. Most people do not like them.

Perhaps the reality in her world was that she had to walk through the grass to get wherever she was going. Suddenly, a snake would appear. Her reaction to the snake always seemed to be the same, that of fear or fright, manifested by her breathing, which became tighter and a feeling of bone-chilling coldness. That would be acceptable for a girl, maybe not a response a young boy would have. The word child would suffice for both.

Either way, it reads like a nursery rhyme, which evokes the same emotion in any child, to whom the nursery rhyme might be read. It gives a momentary insight into her world and shows her way of depicting nature, as well as her love of those who share nature's realm with her.

Anyone who grows up in the country is likely to be familiar with snakes in the grass. Whether it was a male snake does not matter. A little girl would not have referred to the snake, as a female snake. It had to be of male gender.

Anyhow, a little bit of gender-bending is not inappropriate. This Fellow appears to be relatively harmless and meeting with Him for Emily Dickinson, is just a happenstance. A little bit of poetic license is allowable, even when it evokes a chuckle or two.

(1)http://www.enotes.com/narrow-fellow/style 

(2)http://www.cswnet.com/~erin/ed10.htm

(3)http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/824/

(4)http://www.cswnet.com/~erin/ed10.htm

(5)http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/824/

(6)http://www.cswnet.com/~erin/ed10.htm