James Wright’s “A Blessing” and Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass.”

In a maximum of 750 words, please write a complete essay (thesis statement, body with examples, conclusion) in which you compare and contrast the representation of nature in James Wright’s “A Blessing” and Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass.” What do the ponies and snake symbolize? How do they differ in terms of their embodiment of nature? What is so special about the world of nature in Wright’s poem that the speaker and their companion enter when they cross the barbed wire fence and step into the pasture where the ponies are grazing? Why do you think the speaker’s encounter with the ponies is so intensely meaningful to them? What might this encounter be compensating for? In Dickinson’s poem, the snake is obviously beautiful and inspires the speaker’s intense curiosity, but the snake differs from the ponies in its threat to the speaker. Discuss this essential difference and how the speakers in each poem’s response is differentiated from the other. Use 4 examples from both poems.

Emily Dickinson, “A narrow Fellow in the Grass”

A narrow Fellow in the Grass

Occasionally rides –

You may have met him? Did you not

His notice instant is –

The Grass divides as with a Comb,

A spotted Shaft is seen,

And then it closes at your Feet

And opens further on –

He likes a Boggy Acre –

A Floor too cool for Corn –

But when a Boy and Barefoot

I more than once at Noon

Have passed I thought a Whip Lash

Unbraiding in the Sun

When stooping to secure it

It wrinkled And was gone –

Several of Nature’s People

I know, and they know me

I feel for them a transport

Of Cordiality

But never met this Fellow

Attended or alone

Without a tighter Breathing

And Zero at the Bone.

James Wright, “A Blessing”

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,

Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.

And the eyes of those two Indian ponies

Darken with kindness.

They have come gladly out of the willows

To welcome my friend and me.

We step over the barbed wire into the pasture

Where they have been grazing all day, alone.

They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness

That we have come.

They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.

There is no loneliness like theirs.

At home once more,

They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.

I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,

For she has walked over to me

And nuzzled my left hand.

She is black and white,

Her mane falls wild on her forehead,

And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear

That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.

Suddenly I realize

That if I stepped out of my body I would break

Into blossom.

View keyboard shortcuts

James Wright’s “A Blessing” and Emily Dickinson’s “A narrow Fellow in the Grass.”

Do you need help with this paper? 🏆 - Let us help you write it!

Why Choose Our Essay Writing Service?

🎓 Why wait? Let us help you succeed! Our Writers are waiting..

Get started

Recent Customer Feedback

See more customer feedback..

How our paper writing service works

Quick Links

Legal

Other