Namesake Poet

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born, raised, and died in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was an introvert and for that reason not much is known about her personal life. Only two of her poems were published in her lifetime and the majority of her work was not discovered until years after her death. Her work is held in high regards among many and is said to have had one of the largest influences on 20th century poetry. 

A Bird Came Down

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, splashless, as they swim.

The most striking part of this poem to me is the incredible imagery Dickinson is able to use in such a relatively short and conversational level diction. The reading of her poem alone has a rhythmic almost lullaby like feeling that matches the beauty she is describing in nature. It is interesting to me how she sees the watching of the bird almost as an interaction between her and the bird, bringing such a common animal to human importance; even the worm that the bird is eating is referred to as "fellow". In a way Dickinson is expressing an extreme appreciation for the beauty of nature. This was best done in the last stanza in describing the bird taking flight. I often think of when a bird is scared by a human they disappear in a frantic scurry out of instinct. Her words however allow me to see the wings splitting like an oar in the water with smoothness and grace.