The poem, A Narrow Fellow in the Grass, by Emily Dickinson is a collaboration of fear and intrigue. The poem is presented through a young boy as he makes his way through cool and damp grassland during the afternoon. The issue the young boy must deal with is the unwelcome encounter with a snake. From the first glimpse of the slithering snake the tone of the poem is set: an uneasiness mood followed by persistent fear. The combination of external conflict and dexterous imagery create the atmosphere of this poem. You may have met Him did you not
Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash The young boy in the poem is faced with the external conflict of his fear of snakes. This conflict never seems to be resolved by the end of the poem, and it is highly unlikely that it will ever be resolved in the future. As it is presented in the last two stanzas that the boy is never comfortable with snakes no matter whom he may be with, protection or not. He will continue to be fear stricken when faced with snakes under any circumstance. Although this is not an implausible problem the young boy faces, many people share this same dilemma.
Dickinson created a poem in which many people could relate to by putting her thoughts and emotions down on paper. In reading this poem one cannot help but absorb the imagery portrayed by the use of descriptive language. Dickinson does an amazing job of using the senses to feel the sensation as if you were there standing beside the boy on that particular day. Through imagery the poems mood, understanding and emotions are created. The dominant sensuous appeal of the poem is definitively fear.
Whether Emily Dickinson had a fear of snakes, which she portrayed through the boy, the reader will never know but this poem does generate a sense of uneasiness for the reader. Dickinson uses many physical senses to create the ambiance of the poem and through this the poem becomes meaningful to the reader. The most used sense in this particular poem is that of the visual, in which Dickinson uses it in every stanza. The visual sense seems to be the most powerful tool in presenting an idea to someone. Although we will not all create the same picture in our mind we do share the same common or given characteristics.
Dickinson describes the snake as it suddenly emerges from the grass and then its outward physical appearance. Then the location is visually created as it is described as a boggy acre, this is where we all create our own picture of the location of the poem. Another appealing visual aspect is the Whip lash unbraiding in the sun, the boy completely unaware of what the rope really is. Next, the poem describes Natures People, which give the picture of ordinary people in the town, plain town folk of all stature. Lastly, the idea of tighter breathing, this creates the picture of the boy just frozen still and panicked.
Another sense used to create the imagery of the poem is motion. We see this in the first stanza as the snake occasionally rides through the grass. The snakes movement continues into the second stanza where the grass divides as with a comb. It continues on as the snake slips by the young boys feet and opens further on. Here, it is where we can truly sense the motion of the snake and visually see it come toward and pass by the young boy. Again the motion that is described in this poem makes the reader feel as if they are there seeing the poem unfold right there before them.
The last two senses that are incorporated into the poem are the thermal and the touch senses. The first thermal sense that is used is to illustrate the location and characteristics of the poem. It is unchartered grassland that is described as a floor to cool for corn. The reader should feel the cool breeze across their bare feet tracking through the tall grass. Then the sense of the hot sun beating down upon the grass is felt when the author says, a whip lash unbraiding in the sun. The next imagery described is the sense of touch and the impression it gives to the reader.
As described before, the idea of the grass closing around the boys feet and how it feels as the snake slithers by. The next time that we read about touch is when the by stoops down to pick up the rope. Unaware that what he has just grabbed is the wrinkled snake, here he unknowingly confronts one of his greatest fears. The imagery that Emily Dickinson uses to create the mood of the poem in collaboration with the unresolved external conflict of snakes builds the foundation for an enjoyable poem. One, that most readers can relate to, as well as develop the picture of atmosphere and location in their minds.
