A Bird came down the Walk

E86268

lyric poem poem

"A Bird came down the Walk" is a lyric poem by Emily Dickinson that closely observes a bird’s behavior to explore the delicate boundary between nature and human perception.

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	lyric poem → poem →
author	Emily Dickinson →
countryOfOrigin	United States →
exploresConcept	boundary between observer and observed → limits of human understanding of nature → wild instinct versus human civility →
firstLine	A Bird came down the Walk – →
form	lyric →
genre	nature poetry →
hasCriticalReception	widely anthologized and frequently analyzed →
imagery	comparison of bird’s flight to butterflies leaping off banks of noon → comparison of bird’s flight to oars dividing the ocean → description of the bird drinking dew → detailed description of a bird eating a worm →
language	English →
literaryMovement	American poetry →
literaryPeriod	19th-century literature →
meter	common meter →
narrativePerspective	first person →
notableLine	And he unrolled his feathers → And rowed him softer home – → Than Oars divide the Ocean → Too silver for a seam – →
portrays	bird as both vulnerable and dangerous → speaker as cautious and fascinated observer →
relatedWorkByAuthor	A narrow Fellow in the Grass → Because I could not stop for Death → I heard a Fly buzz – when I died – →
rhymeScheme	loosely alternating rhyme →
setting	garden path or walk →
stanzaCount	5 →
studiedIn	American literature courses → poetry analysis and close reading courses →
subject	a bird observed at close range →
theme	fragility of contact between human and animal worlds → observation and perception → relationship between humans and nature → tension between wildness and domestication →
tone	curious → reverent toward nature → tense →
usesLiteraryDevice	alliteration → enjambment → metaphor → personification → simile → slant rhyme →
usesPunctuationStyle	dashes characteristic of Emily Dickinson →

Referenced by (1)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Emily Dickinson →	notableWork