Encouraged by by your encouraging encouraging comments, I thought of analyzing analyzing another poem in the O/L syllabus for your benet. The poem I have selected is ! bird came do"n the "al#$ by Emily %ic#inson. Emily %ic#inson "as born in !mherst, &assachuset &assachusetts ts,, on %ecember '(, ')*(, into a prominent, but not "ealthy, family. +he "as an introvert, meaning she #ept to herself most of the time and rarely "ent outside of her home. o"ever, she "as gifted "ith a po"erful imagination and intelligence intelligence and she had "ritten more than ')(( poems. er poetry is mar#ed by acute observation and rich imagination. This poem is based on a very very ordinary ordinary incident. ! bird eats a "orm and -ies -ies a"ay refusing refusing a crumb oered by the poet "ho turns this apparently commonplace incident into a poetic masterpiece "ith her rich imagination. The poem begins begins "ith the line$! line$! bird came do"n the 0al#1. 0al#1. %o you nd anything unusual unusual in this line2 0ell, to me, it stri#es rather odd. 3or one thing, "e normally say 4a bird -ied do"n5. It seems the poet "anted to attribute some human 6uality to the bird. This is further reinforced by the "ord 0al#$. ! "al#, as a noun, refers to a route or lane used for leisurely "al#ing. It is similar to a 7ogging trac# used by people for 7ogging or "al#ing. Thus, the bird is compared to a person "ho is having a lesurely "al# in the evening. This creates slight humour "hich contrast sharply "ith the tension created by the third and fourth lines "here the bird bit an !ngle"orm in halves/!nd ate the fello", ra".$ 3urther, the bird5s apparently 4civilized5 behaviour contrasts sharply "ith his 4"ild5 behaviour in eating the !ngle"orm 4ra"5. The "ord ra"$ ra"$ gets an additional "eight because it rhymes rhymes "ith the "ord sa"$ in the second line. 0hether it is 4civilized5 or 4"ild5, this natural behavior of the bird "ho is so far unaected by the presence of the spea#er as the poet says e did not #no" I sa"1. 3urther, the "ord fello"$ contributes to the playful tone. Obviously, the poet is not 4sho#ed5 by the bird5s act. In fact, he presents the nature as it is, both its beauty and "ildness, as an observer. observer. The poet may be also suggesting the cruelty hidden behind the fa8ade of civility in the society in this stanza. The rhyming pattern abcb continues in the subse6uent stanzas. 9o" let5s loo# at the rst t"o lines of the second stanza !nd then he dran# a %e" 3rom a convenient :rass; The bird5s bird5s human1li#e human1li#e 6uality is further emphasized emphasized in these these t"o lines. 9ormally 9ormally "e, humans, ta#e pride in the fact that "e are superior to all other species of animals. o"ever, the poet seems to suggest in these lines that animals are no less superior to humans, in their o"n "ay. The use of the indenite article 4a5 also deserves our attention here. 9ormally "e e
rhymes strongly "ith 4glass5 "hich suggests an echo1pun on glass. This creates a picture of a person drin#ing from a glass. 3urther, the bird nds his food and drin#s easily, may be more easily than humans. These lines also remind me about another poem by %.. La"rence. In this poem called 4+na#e5, La"rence, the narrator is mesmerized by the graceful behavior of the sna#e. This is ho" he describes the "ay the sna#e dran# "ater from his "ater trough
e sipped "ith his straight mouth, +oftly dran# throug through h his straight gums, into his slac# long body, +ilently. The soft alliteration of the4s5 sound together "ith "ith the slo", graceful graceful rhythm rhythm creates a tantalizing eect.
This graceful graceful behaviour of of the bird in our poem is further highlighted highlighted in in the ne, Leonard 0oolf says 43or the rule of the 7ungle is rst fear, and then hunger and thirst. There is fear every"here5 Even human beings are aFicted "ith three main types of fear, according to Cathana +utta 4sambutam tividham bhayam5. The poet compares compares the bird5s bird5s eyes to 4frightened 4frightened bead5. bead5. The poet personies personies the bead bead in this line. ! bead "ith its tiny hole and rolling motion is a stunning image to describe bird5s eyes
as it is light and lustrous. o"ever, it also suggests a certain hard 6uality in the bird. This contrasts sharply "ith the 4velvet head5 "hich suggests certain -uGness and beauty. The 3ourth 3ourth stanza opens opens "ith the the line Li#e one in danger, Hautious, 0e are tempted to as# 4"hat is the danger25and the reason for his being 4cautious5. 0ell, as I mentioned before, a bird5s natural domain is the s#y and thus, he tends to behave rather clumsilly and nervously in the ground. !s such, the above line aptly describes his behaviour in the ground. The ne
In the ne and no" he compares them to an animate thing =butter-ies>. The poet ma#es an implied comparison bet"een the butter-ies and sh "hen she says 4they s"im5. It again suggests the smoothness and the gracefulness of the bird5s -ight through the s#y. 4Klashless5, a rather uncommon "ord, means smooth or -uid. Through this poem, the the poet seems to highlight highlight the the both the beauty beauty and the danger danger of the untamed nature. !nother famous poem called 4! narro" 3ello" in the :rass5 also deals "ith a similar theme. ope you have en7oyed my analysis. !s you can see, appreciating a poem doesn5t mean 7ust e
