Analysis Of A Bird Came Down The Walk By Emily Dickinson

Register to read the introduction… The purposeful use of sounds such as those found in consonants and vowels also create an effect, by making the verse come alive. Through the careful choice and arrangement of words, a poet can create an expression that is pleasing to the reader. Dickinson uses such poetic devices as alliteration, assonance, euphony. Alliteration is when the poet places repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words or they are placed near each other. An example of Dickinson’s use of alliteration is in the prevailing “S” sound found in the last two stanzas. The use of “feathers” (line 15), “softer” (line 16), “oars” (line 17), “ocean” (line 17), “silver” (line 18), “seam” (line 18), “butterflies” (19), “banks” (19), “plashless” (line 20), and “swim” (line 20) creates a smoothness that allows the reader to flow along like the nautical theme of the ocean and sense the simplicity of the bird’s flight. Assonance is the use of repeated vowel sounds, such as the long “O” sound used in the final stanza. “O” creates a drawn out and elegant sound that Dickson uses to accentuate the bird’s slow and gentle gracefulness that is seen as it effortlessly soars across the sky. This effect creates the calmness that is experienced in Dickinson’s last two stanzas. Her purposeful use of words like “unrolled” (line 15), “rowed” (line 16), “home” (line 16), “Oars” (line 17), “Ocean” …show more content…
The theme involves the effect of humans on nature. The bird hops down the walk, eats a worm, notices a human who tries to give the bird some food, the bird becomes frightened by the human and immediately flies away. As simple as the poem appears, its meaning is significant. The poem is an expression of the poet’s respect for nature. Her purpose is to use her artistic skill to inspire that same respect in her readers. Dickinson’s use of literary devices and her creativity enables her to imaginatively describe the beauty and grace from a simple and familiar observation. It is through her use of tone, imagery, and sound that she exploits a keen sense of respect for at the very least the little bird, if not also nature itself. Dickinson recreates and expresses the magnificence and smoothness of the bird soaring across the sky. She uses tone to create the mood to emphasize the theme. She uses sound and imagery to not only tell the reader about the awesome flight of the bird, but to help the reader experience and connect to the little bird and nature in hope that they too will learn to respect