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328

A Bird came down the Walk — He did not know I saw — He bit an Angleworm 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 around — 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, plashless as they swim.

I really thought that this was a cute poem more than anything else. It's just about a random little bird doing its everyday stuff. For example, In the first stanza, Emily Dickinson is observing the bird that apparently does not know that she is watching and it is just eating a worm. The second stanza says that the bird is drinking some dew off of some nearby grass and stepping aside to let a beetle pass it. The third stanza, I think, is saying that the bird is finally realizing that she is watching it because she describes his eyes as glancing rapidly around and them looking like little "frightened beads". She continues to say that the bird looks like he might be in danger or something so she gives him a little crumb for food. When she did this, the bird became more comfortable again. The thing that I dont get in this poem is the last stanza. It is confusing to me because it has nothing to do with her observation of the bird. It talks about oars dividing the ocean and butterflies leaping as they swim... First of all, butterflies do not swim. Thats the first part that I didn't understand. The second part is some of the words in it. For example, I do not know what the word plashless means. She uses it in a sense to describe how the butterflies are swimming. In conclusion, I thought this poem was good but the ending threw me off and left me confused as to what the last stanza had anything to do with the poem at all. 1203201944

I agree with ewe. This poem as brtom even said in class is almost just a nursery rhyme for little kids about the everyday doings of a bird. In the first stanza Dickinson describes the bird coming down the walk as the bird did not see her and the bird bites an angleworm in half, eating it raw. In the second stanza she describes how the bird is eating the dew off the grass, and then goes onto explain how nice the bird is by stepping aside to let the beetle pass. That part is one of the main reasons this is like a nursery rhyme because the bird is being generous, she could of said the bird ate the beetle just like the worm. In the 3rd stanza she describes the bird seeming very scared and alarmed. In the 4th stanza she thinks the bird senses danger, she offers him a crumb, but he flys away. The last stanza is also very confusing to me, I don't see what it has to do at all with the bird? Overall, this was a good poem, but i have enjoyed her others much more. This would be an easier poem of Dickinson's for younger children to understand, although I don't think thats what she intended it for. 1203868672

I really enjoyed this poem because it was very understandable and right to the point. Unlike all of Dickinson's other poems which are very hard to interpret, especiallly since evryone thinks differently. I think the poem is a plan expierience poem that dickinson had at some point in her life. One day she was outside and she was watching a bird. She saw it eat a worm and she saw it step aside for a beetle, and she even gave it food. i really have thought about this poem to see if there is a deeper meaning and i cannot really find one. It just seems like she wanted to take a break from her usual confusing and very uninterpretable poems. She had a story to tell of her day and she decided she would write it in a poem, even though it wasn't very eventful it was still interesting in the poem. She ook a very boring almost everyday thing and made it interesting by writing it in a poem. I really have to say that i really, really liked this poem and i am going to read it again right now.

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the first stanza explains the the bird ate a worm, but the bird didnt see the woman watching.

the second stanza explains that bird drank some dew form the grass.

the third stanza explains that the bird saw her and he was scared and flew away.

the fourth stanza explains that she offered him a crumb, but he fled his wings and flew away.

This is very a very different poem from what I have been reading and posting about lately, instead of describing a feeling its describing a simple event. Yes for once one of these poems are simple, there is no need to break down a poem like this. Poems like these are easy reads; they are fun and can be for almost anyone unlike these other poems. The last stanza is the only stanza that perhaps needs a little help when trying to understand what she is saying. She is describing how beautiful and delicate a bird flies, it’s more effortless than dividing water yet we humans cannot partake in flight using our bodies. It’s just amazing to think of flying, if you could fly by yourself, float like a butterfly in the vast atmosphere. I also liked the part in the poem where she relates the eyes to frightened beads. I thought it was interesting because beads are lifeless yet eyes are and I still got a good picture in my head of the eyes when she described them in this way.1203988910

I too like this poem because it actually means what its talking about! No major symbolic thing...just little stuff in between. Also I noticed the rhyme scheme (ABCB-with some slants in stanzas 2,3,&4) which I really like because it's more regular and what I'm used to. Within the poem there were two parts that really stood out to me. One being line 12 to line 14. He stirred his Velvet Head

Like one in danger, Cautious, I offered him a Crumb

This section confused me. The word cautious is located where it can be applied to either the bird, who felt like he was in danger, or the narrator who wants to be careful while giving the bird a crumb. I think that the author is referring to the bird being cautious but that's just my opinion.

The other part that stood out to me, and apparently many others, was lines 15 through 18. And he unrolled his feathers And rowed him sofrer home --

Than Oars divide the Ocean, Too silver for a seam--

The author is describing the smoothness and grace in the birds flight and motion of its wings. The bird is able to seperate the air softer than us humans are able to seperate the ocean when we row with oars. We create a wake or some tread and with the air the birds create no seam. I think this is interesting becuase it really shows how ungraceful, sloppy, clumsy (whatever) people are compared to a bird or butterfly.

Another line that was metaphoric was the line Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon It means how like the sun is right above head at high noon and there are no shadows and everything is even, a butterflies are seperated in the same manner. A butterflies wings have a line of symmetry, just like at noon the sun is the line of symmetry.

This poem allowed to me to easily create many pictures in my mind through the way things were described. 1204075874

This poem was one that i had a hard time understanding. In class, we read and discussed this piece of work written by Emily Dickinson, so i took brief, yet detailed notes. As we discussed in a previous class session, Emily Dickinson writes her poems based off of her own past experiences or ideas. In this particular poem, Emily describes an experience she had with the outter world. She talks about a bird, and the feeling she got when she looked at the bird. In the 3rd stanza, she describes the birds eyes and how they looked like frightened beads. Beads are an object, so how can an object be scared of something else. However, Emily uses figuartive language to describe the eyes of the bird in a more appealing way to the reader. The fright in the eyes is really the emotion she sees //behind// them. Then, after offering him a crumb, he "unrolled his feathers and rowed him softer home -- than oars divide the ocean..." I took this to mean that the bird was flying away and the words such as "rowed him softer home, than oars.." makes me depict the motion the wings have. 1204085060

i agree with ewe when she says that she thinks that this poem is so cute. It seems like to me that Emily Dickinson is just telling a story about a bird. The narrator is like an outsider observing the bird and how he is acting. The narrator is there for the bird when he is scared and needing comfort to reassure him that everything will be okay. I think this poem can be somewhat comforting because it's saying that someone is always there and that when you need something and give up hope, something may come along and help you abck on track. One thing i didnt understand was the last stanza though. So if someone would explain that, that would be very helpful.1204162802ape2

we talked about this poem in class the other day and this was an example as an external poem. I do not know if that was the word used but it was along that line. However, this means that she is writing about an outer body experience. Such as the first and second stanza of this peom it is talking about her watching/ spying if you will on this bird. The bird not knowing she is there and he is just going about his daily routine as if he was by himself. The description is very good and how she explaines the bird drinking the dew and letting the beetle pass. Things that you would have to stop and look for if you wanted to see that. There are a lot of other poems like this. In this poem she is using her common abcb ryming method and that is the kind of poem that i like best. 1204254776

I agree with ewe. This poem is pretty cute. Emily Dickinson probably went outside one day and saw a bird in her yard and wrote this poem. This one does not seem to have any special meaning or anything like that and, unlike several of Dickinson's poems, has nothing to do with death. This seems sort of like a nursery rhyme because of the way it was about the bird was cutely getting food and drink. I think that little kids would enjoy this poem because they will think that the bird is cute and graceful at the same time. This poem made me think about some of the nursery ryhmes that were read to me as a kid. I thought that they were a bunch of rhyming words, but now I know that as rediculous as they may sound, some of them could have been drawn on experiences that the authors of the rhymes may have had. Overall, I like this poem. It was cute and really easy to understand.1204255442

When reading this poem, you notice that th tone of this poem is first happiness and cheer. Then in the 3rd stanza it becomes more of a panic tone. As the bird flies away the tone is calm and back to happiness. I think Emily is comparing this scene in nature to show how we as humans can relate to birds. The bird eats... its happy. We eat we are happy. The bird finishs it becomes frantic because it feels as if its going to be attacked because of the unfamiliar territory. Then the bird flies away into the sky and its back to familiar territory and back to calmness in the poem. 1204494469epa1

I agree with you guys that this poem as brotom even said in class is almost just a nursery rhyme for little kids about the everyday doings of a bird. In the first stanza Emily Dickinson describes the bird coming down the walk as the bird does not see her and the bird bites an angleworm in half, eating it raw. In the second stanza Dickinson describes how the bird is drinking the dew off the grass, and then goes onto explain how nice the bird is by stepping aside to let the beetle pass. That part is one of the main reasons this is like a nursery rhyme because the bird is being generous, she could of said the bird ate the beetle just like the worm but she didn't. In the 3rd stanza she describes the bird beening scared and alarmed. In the 4th stanza she says the bird senses danger, she offers him a crumb, but he flys away. The last stanza is also very confusing to me, I don't see what it has to do at all with the bird? Overall, this was a good poem, but i have enjoyed her others much more. 1204771940