18 pages • 36 minutes read
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“The Frost of Death was on the Pane (1136)” by Emily Dickinson (1866)
This poem directly references “A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)” and enriches its interpretative potential. Here, she extends her love of nature to its non-animal aspects, including flowers, the sea, mountains, the sun, and even the titular frost. “The Frost of Death was on the Pane” also speaks directly to Dickinson’s chronic illnesses and increasingly isolated lifestyle, as the speaker of the poem contemplates mortality and the inevitability of death while looking out of a window.
“Because I could not stop for Death (479)” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
In “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson’s isolation and fear of death is cast aside for a playful personification of Death, which, though resolute in collecting the speaker, is nevertheless polite in its approach. There is an optimistic energy in the poem’s contemplation of Eternity that is not present in later works.
“Hope is the thing with Feathers (314)” by Emily Dickinson (1861)
This poem anticipates “A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096),” as its speaker offers the opposite of personification—zoomorphism, or taking a human feature and making it animalistic. Here, the human ideal of optimistic expectation gains the qualities of a bird, providing further evidence for Dickinson’s critical view of humanity.
Further Literary Resources
Paradise Lost by John Milton (1667)
Milton’s influence on Dickinson work is profound, as in Dickinson’s time Paradise Lost was considered the greatest English poem ever written. In this epic poem, a poetic take on the Bible’s Book of Genesis, Milton seeks to explain two falls—that of Satan and that of mankind. Some of Milton’s religious themes are present in Dickinson’s poetry as well.
My Emily Dickinson by Susan Howe (1985)
In this renowned feminist reading of Dickinson, Howe defends the poet from earlier misogynist critics. Howe pays particular attention to the poem “My Life had stood—a Loaded Gun,” interpreting it as a poetic manifesto for Dickinson.
The Gardens of Emily Dickinson by Judith Farr (2005)
Specifically focusing on the ecologies of Dickinson, Farr traces the way plants and animals define the poet’s entire body of work. Farr’s attention to biographical detail is impressive, as she draws connections between Dickinson’s passion for gardening and her writing, even going into detail about the differences between botany in the Victorian Era and its practices today.
Listen to Poem
In this video, actress Nancy Wickwire (1925-1974) reads Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)” as drag queen Tootight Lautrec lip-syncs along.
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By Emily Dickinson
