A bird came down the WalkBy Emily Dickinson

(Comprehension and Analysis)

As the poem begins, the poet is described seeing the bird, “the main character”, down the path, most likely next to the poet’s house. The little creature is described as eating a raw angleworm, after biting it in halves, afterwards drinking a small drop of water from a wet blade of grass. According to the poet, after this magnificent feast, the bird jumped aside to let a beetle pass. It is depicted as being frightened and cautious, its eyes betraying its emotional state. This is the reason why, when the poet tried to give it a small piece of bread, the beautiful thing “unrolled its feathers” and flied in a very subtle and silent way, letting the witness contemplate its grace and beauty.

The poem talks about four creatures. The first one is the bird, which is the main focus of the poem. The second one is the poor angleworm, the meal of the bird. The third one is the beetle, which the bird lets pass by stepping a bit aside. The last one(s) are the butterflies, to whose smooth flight of wings the author associates the flight of the bird in the poem.

The poet uses visual images of the bird’s actions in a way so that the readers see the bird as the speaker sees it -- living and reacting to its environment.  The one image that I find particularly effective is the one depicting the bird hopping aside to let the beetle pass, as it suggests a preference of food – worms over beetles. The opening lines of the poem describe nature in a rather realistic way.

A striking example of personification, among all used in the poem, is that of the bird’s eyes, comparing them to a pair of frightened beads, and I find this particularly interesting because it is very difficult even to imagine a pair of soulless beads acting or even looking frightened. The idea of this personification is to create the image of two incredibly beautiful eyes, shining like two balls of glass with a pinch of animate fright added. Moreover, the next line offers a detail on the texture of the bird’s feathers, “his Velvet head” respectively.

The next line is definitely referring to the bird, as there is no punctuation mark at the end of the 12th line, so there is a sequence of run-on lines which have the same subject. The second possibility, that of thinking at the author as cautious and in danger, is unlikely because there is no full stop at the end of 12th line.

The bird’s universe is the sky, and this is why it doesn’t find the ground a place to feel good on. It belongs to the blue infinity; there it can enjoy its life without having to fear for its life at every step and whenever it is there, it feels like home for it.

Therefore the little creature flies away in a very smooth and subtle way. For a better description of its flight, the poet uses the comparison between flying in silver air and rowing in an ocean of water. As in the silver-like air the steam cannot be created, so the flight of the bird is so graceful and beautiful.

This flight of the bird is compared to that of the butterflies. The last’s flight is described rather as a swim in the air, and not water. The verbs used to emphasize

this are “leap” and “swim”. Also, the use of “plashless” instead of “splashless” is a way in which the poet reinforces the idea of butterflies’ swimming in the air.

The poet also uses assonance in the last lines to describe the beauty and the elegance of the bird’s flight. It is to be noted the use of ‘o’. “O” is elongated and elegant, exactly like the soaring bird. The calming effect of words like “unrolled,” (15), “rowed” (16), “home” (16), “oars” (17), “ocean” (17), and “or” (18) slow the rhythm of the poem and allow the reader to feel the speaker’s awe at the smoothness and beauty of the bird’s flight.

All these images of the bird on ground and in flight are, in fact, a metaphor to the human life. The bird on the ground is the man’s physical life on earth, as he is fearful, frightened, but also awkward, comical and anxious. On the other hand, the beautiful bird in flight is the man’s soul in its spiritual home, feeling free and happy and enjoying the beauty of the blue infinity.