A Narrow Fellow in the Grass Poetry Review

Emily Dickinson is recognized as one of the talented poets of all time. She uses many elements in her poetry that make her writing very unique. In "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass," she uses much imagery to describe a snake slithering through the grass. In this particular poem, the reader can depict visual, tactile, and organic imagery.

There are many examples of visual imagery in this poem, but one that stands out the most is contained in the second stanza. "The Grass divides as with a Comb-; A spotted shaft is seen-, "describes a snake crawling through the grass. The reader distinctly has a mental image of the grass being "combed" over to the side as if something had once been there. Also, it is obvious that the speaker does not see the complete snake as it is moving through the grass. "A spotted shaft is seen-," tells the reader that some of the grass covers the snake and the speaker only sees part of it.

In line 10 of "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass," the poem states "A Floor too cool for Corn-; Yet when a Boy, and Barefoot-," describes a tactile kind of imagery. The poem states that the snake likes to be on a cool surface, better suited for a reptile. This imagery causes the reader to imagine feeling their bare feet against a cold ground.

Organic imagery is usually the least used imagery. However in lines 3 and 4, it seems that the speaker is a bit startled at the snake. "You may have met him? Did you not; His notice sudden is-," describes the snake appearing suddenly, obviously causing anyone in its presence to be a bit frightened. After reading lines 3 and 4 the reader feels a sense of worry or surprise, or thinks on a time when they too had encountered a snake.

Readers depend on imagery for more understanding in poetry. Writers often use complicated and well thought up wording so as to make a poem like a riddle. Imagery helps the reader to have a mental placement of how it feels to be in the speakers place. "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass," is a prime example of the use of visual, tactile, or even organic imagery.