Emily Dickinson narrates seeing a bird descend the walk

Emily Dickinson’s “A Bird came down the Walk”

Emily Dickinson describes a bird descending the walk unaware that it was being watched. The bird attacks the angleworm ingests it and then drinks the dew from the hay (Shurr 22). Dickinson describes how the bird hops to the wall, allowing the beetle to fly past. The speaker describes the bird’s swift eyes glancing as she carefully makes him a crump in making this point.

Dickinson’s Depiction of Mortality

Dickinson depicts mortality as a natural act using the bird and the angleworm; in effect, she presents predation as a natural act that leads to the latter’s demise. The last two lines of the first stanza explain the bird’s swiftness was hitting and later dining the raw worm (Shurr 23). The incredible feature in the poem is its imagery of the death of the angleworm as an aftermath of an act of nature. The poet is a victim of circumstance given benevolence from view. The speaker endures the sense of belonging that she observes from awe and contrasts aspects of nature as unmerciful and cruel, which is evident in the writing (Shurr 22). Dickinson portrays brutal force of nature through the powerful imagery where the angleworm is bitten in halves. The bird’s desire to fulfill its sustenance need takes priority in its instincts, forcing it to behave mercilessly over the prey.

Human-Nature Interrelation

The bird focused on its survival, when it was exposed to the crumbling act by human being, whereas it unrolls his feathers, illustrating that animals live by instincts. The poet says that the bird stirs the head, thereby, suggesting its cautiousness from being prey (Shurr 22). Dickinson insinuates the understanding of immortality concept by human beings based on the idea of being too feeble-minded, hinting that their desire to know is an unending (Shurr 22). The imagery is seen in the act of the bird flying away from the speaker’s attempts to crumble; it suggests that the former is escaping from death from the act of nature. The poet explains the human-nature interrelation, while depicting the brutality of the latter with its power to cause death (Shurr 23). The interaction of the speaker with the bird instills fear in the bird, making it frighten; hence, it is what causing it to depart immediately. It feels threatened, since there is insecurity and fear of the harmful consequence that might occur as the narrator is on the path of the bird, forcing the individual to offer the animal a crumb; however, due to expediency, it flies away fearing death.

The Moderation of Animals

The sense of the bird to refute the crumb and allow the beetle pass is a sign of moderate and simplistic behavior of animals. The narrator explains that after satisfaction, the animal escapes from the bit and the beetle, proving the immoderate human nature (Shurr 22). The act is a recommendation of caution and evasion from possible threats which could result in a bird’s death. Its action has portrayed the civilized nature of the animals. The theme of danger in the fourth stanza is illustrated, even though it was minor. From the poem, one can conclude that the possible threats of nature can cause harm and death to the animals as seen from the bird dining the worm. It is also evident that they are cautious and moderate, unlike human beings.

Work Cited

Shurr, William H., ed. New Poems of Emily Dickinson. UNC Press Books, 2015.