"A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" delves into the theme of appearance versus reality. Dickinson often wrote poems resembling riddles, employing extended metaphors to depict her subjects without directly naming them. Each stanza provides "clues" through imagery and vivid descriptions, such as the "spotted shaft" that parts the grass "like a comb."

In this poem, Dickinson subtly reveals her subject—a snake—by drawing comparisons to something else. The speaker initially misinterprets the object, mistaking it for something entirely different. This gap between appearance and reality becomes most apparent in the fourth stanza. The speaker recalls walking barefoot through the grass and perceives the snake as a whip: “I more than once at Noon / Have passed, I thought, a Whip lash / Unbraiding in the Sun.” Yet, when the speaker reaches down to grab the "Whip," it quickly unveils itself as a snake and slips away: “It wrinkled, and was gone.”

What makes Dickinson's method captivating is her intentional avoidance of typical snake-related words like “slither,” “scaly,” “slide,” “coil,” or the typical portrayal of snakes as sinister or evil. Instead, she employs unique imagery, calling the snake a “fellow” who “rides” rather than slithers, and who “wrinkles” away. This language choice prompts the reader to reconsider their preconceived ideas and envision the subject in a fresh way. Through this technique, she questions our understanding of reality and how appearance influences our perceptions.

"A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" opens with imagery that evokes a sense of tranquility rather than dread. The use of the word "fellow" in the first line implies familiarity and ease. By calling the snake a "fellow," Dickinson almost gives it human qualities, making it seem unlike the threatening creature it is often thought to be.

As the poem unfolds, the imagery continues to portray the snake as a harmless being, one of "nature's people," with whom the speaker is acquainted. In the last stanza, the snake is once again called a "fellow," but the context changes. The speaker now admits his fear of the snake. Meeting this "narrow fellow," whether "attended or alone," leads to "tighter breathing" and makes the speaker feel "zero at the bone," or deeply chilled. The final stanza illustrates an irrational fear. Literary critic Barbara Seib Ingold explains: "Irrational fears arise from what we do not understand; it is the many things one does not understand about a snake that add to one’s fear of snakes."

The speaker might be contemplating the snake's poisonous bite or its mysterious actions. Often linked with fear and occasionally evil, the snake occupies a unique place in history. We could suggest that "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" delves into the nature of fear, using the snake as a trigger for this emotion. The poem presents fear as a complex feeling—one that exists alongside comfort, as indicated by describing the frightening snake as a "fellow."

This is a poem about making a journey into nature, one of the characteristic themes of American literature. According to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau—two members of the Transcendental movement in American literature, with whom Dickinson has frequently been compared—such an excursion into nature could put human beings in contact with the higher laws of the universe. Dickinson’s poem offers both an exploration and a critique of this view. Hers is a poem about coming into contact with nature—moving from a distance to proximity with nature—but more important, it is a poem which contrasts the perceptions of nature from a distance with the reality of nature experienced at first hand.

Although the poem...