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A Narrow Fellow in the Grass
Emily Dickinson
About Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 2,000 poems but most of her poems were discovered after her death.
She chose unconventional topics, used unusual images and took great liberties with language--- including the use of strange word order and punctuation. But it all added to the power of her poetry.
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 your feet,
And opens further on.
He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn,
But 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.
Available Answers
- 1.
'His notice sudden is.' Who is 'he'? Where does one get to meet him? What does he do suddenly?
- 2.
What is 'a boggy acre'? Why might the narrow fellow like it? Is it safe or dangerous for him? What makes it so?
- 3.
In stanza three we get to know who the speaker in the poem is. Who is it?
- 4.
'Whip-lash' and 'unbraiding' describe the movement of the narrow fellow. What does the speaker compare the 'narrow fellow' to in these descriptions?
- 5.
Which line shows that the boy tries to catch the 'narrow fellow'? Does he succeed?
- 6.
Which feeling do 'tighter breathing' and 'zero at the bone' suggest? When does the speaker get this feeling?
8 more answer(s) available.