Can anyone help me understand this poem?

It's a snake.

pam

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 your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

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.

The poem "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" is written by Emily Dickinson. it ia a poem about a boy (possibly now an adult now looking back) walking in the grass and seeing a snake slithering in the grass and he is a little bit scared of it. it is never said that it is a snake, but she uses lot of imagery to tell you the the "fellow" is a snake.

Eli, what is there in the poem that makes you think it's about a boy?

i think its about her own fear of the snake, not some random boy

Could be a worm:

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.


Les

Now the snake is rather narrow
But interpretation's wider,
Miss E.D., she knew of Dickens,
But she never tried his cider

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2006 11:43PM by JohnnySansCulo.