Ketteler has taught literature and composition, with a focus on nineteenth-century literature. This essay examines the poetic techniques Dickinson uses in "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" and the various levels of meaning embedded in the imagery.

Emily Dickinson uses a medley of poetic techniques to craft her poem "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass." Throughout the poem, Dickinson balances the tension between the admiration of the object she describes—the snake—and the fear of it. "A Narrow Fellow" is in many ways a study in poetic technique, with carefully chosen images, instances of alliteration and rhyme, and the use of personification. Dickinson pays close attention to the look, shape, and sound of the words themselves, as well as the feeling created by the punctuation. "A Narrow Fellow" can be interpreted at several levels. First, it can be read on a literal level as...