A Bird came down the Walk by Emily Dickinson

A Bird came down the Walk by Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk -

He did not know I saw -

He bit an Angle Worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw,

And then, he drank a Dew

From a convenient Grass -

And then hopped sidewise to the Wall

To let a Beetle pass -

He glanced with rapid eyes,

That hurried all abroad -

They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,

He stirred his Velvet Head. -

Like one in danger, Cautious,

I offered him a Crumb,

And he unrolled his feathers,

And rowed him softer Home -

Than Oars divide the Ocean,

Too silver for a seam,

Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,

Leap, plashless as they swim.

INTRODUCTION -

"A Bird Came down the Walk" is a famous poem written by the celebrated American poet, Emily Dickinson. It was first published posthumously in her collection, Poems in 1891. It is a twenty-line poem divided into five quatrains. Each quatrain follows the rhyme scheme of ABCB except for the third stanza. This poem centers on the different faces of nature - its beauty and brutality. The poet, during one of her daily walks, encounters a bird which at first was a merciless predator and killed a worm to ease its hunger but suddenly, it becomes aware of the danger lurking in the corners and feels like prey. This sudden change with a spark of life directs the poetess' attention to create this verse.

POET -

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (10 December 1830 – 15 May 1886) was an American poet. She challenged the existing definitions of poetry and the poet’s work. Her poems mostly deal with themes of death and immortality. During her lifetime, she wrote 1775 poems but didn't provide them with a title. Hence, all her works are known by their first line. Also, only 10 of her works were published during her lifetime. Her most famous works include "Hope" Is The Thing With Feathers, Success Is Counted Sweetest, There Is Another Sky, etc.

SUMMARY -

The poem starts with the description of a bird that came down the poet's front walkway. It was unaware of the fact that the poet could watch it. This is to remind us how birds fly away from a human presence. However, within the next lines, the bird turns into a predator before the poet's eyes as it bites an earthworm in half and eats it raw.

Then after fulfilling its hunger, it decided to quench its thirst by drinking a dewdrop from a handy blade of grass. In the next stanza, there is the mention of a beetle who is another small part of nature. The bird hops towards the wall to get out of the beetle's way. By this little action, the bird showed its awareness of the other components of nature.

Then suddenly a sense of fear is noticed in this predator. Its eyes nervously darted all around it showing its anxiety. The poet is reminded of scared beads as she looks towards those eyes. Then, the bird moved its soft and velvety head to be better sure of its surroundings. Even though the poet shows the bird's anxiety and fear, we do not miss the description of the bird's beautiful eyes and velvety head.

Then carefully, like someone in danger, the poet offered the bird a crumb. But the bird spreads its wings and flew away. Its wings moved more softly through the air than oars that dip into the ocean without making a ripple, or butterflies that leap into the air at midday and swim through the sky without making a splash. Such was the grace of this flying bird! It shows how the last stanza is more metaphorical than those which came before it.

THEMES -

• The beauty and brutality of nature - The poem here, focuses on a bird who is hungry and thirsty. It fulfills these needs by killing a worm and drinking dew. This small action makes us view the bird as a predator capturing its prey and not showing any mercy. But within the next few lines, the bird not only shows care towards a passing beetle but is also shown to be fearful of the poet who simply offers her a crumb of bread. Hence, within a few moments, the bird is not just a predator, but also a prey! This presents us with the dual aspects of nature - beautiful as well as brutal.

END -

The poem describes the simple, yet beautiful, actions of a bird searching for food and then taking flight. The poet's encounter with the bird leads to thoughts about the frightening side of nature—as well as nature's beauty. The setting is both unsettling and pleasant—a combination that reflects the natural world's range of danger and beauty.