Student Question
What is the speaker's tone when saying, "Like one in danger, Cautious, I offered him a Crumb" in "A Bird came down the Walk—"?
Quick answer:
In Emily Dickinson's poem “A Bird came down the Walk—” the speaker's tone is at first curious and filled with wonder as she watches the bird. Then it assumes a tension amidst the curiosity as the speaker describes the bird's darting, fearful eyes. In the fourth stanza, the tone reflects the speaker's own hesitancy and caution as she approaches the bird but then resumes its stance of curiosity and wonder as the bird flies away.
In this poem, Emily Dickinson describes the actions and antics of a little bird she observes coming down the walk. In the first two stanzas of the poem, the speaker's tone is curious and even wonder-filled as she watches the bird eat a worm, drink dew, and hop about.
In the poem's third stanza, the speaker's tone remains curious even as she focuses in on the bird's watchful awareness and its “rapid eyes” that look around quickly, watching for predators. The speaker thinks these eyes look like “frightened Beads.” Her tone now begins to reflect the bird's fear and to increase the tension of the poem. We can picture the little bird swiveling its head from side to side.
Then in the fourth stanza, the poem remarks, “Like one in danger, Cautious, / I offered him a Crumb.” The phrase “Like one in danger” is unclear, and we are not...
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sure if the speaker is talking about the bird or herself. The bird certainly seems to feel like it is in danger, for it is always at risk of being caught by some larger creature. But the way the phrase is punctuated actually suggests that the speaker is applying it to herself. Notice how it begins a brand new sentence as well as a new stanza. In that case, the speaker is being just as cautious as a person who is in danger. She is moving slowly and carefully, deliberately with no sudden gestures, as if something might jump out at her at any moment. Her tone, too, becomes hesitant and cautious, reflecting the bird's behavior that she imitates here. We can picture her gradually holding out a crumb to the bird.
We don't know for sure if the bird takes the crumb, because the speaker next tells us that it flies away, dividing the air with its wings as “Oars divide the Ocean.” Her tone resumes its curious wonder as she reflects on the beauty of the little bird and the smoothness of its flight.