A Bird, came down the Walk

Emily Dickinson’s solitary lifestyle is as famous as her poetry. Though scholars debate the extent of Dickinson’s actual “reclusion,” many of her poems focus on life around her Amherst home. This focus on the domestic sphere is likely related to Dickinson’s care for her ailing mother and her increasing reluctance in the last 15 years of her life to engage actively with the outside world. While she maintained an active writing correspondence with some friends and family, she devoted herself mainly to both her domestic tasks and her poetry.

Unable (or unwilling) to travel far from her family home, Dickinson’s poetry explores the depth hidden in everyday objects and occurrences, particularly in the natural world. In many of her poems, including “A Bird, came down the Walk,” this exploration uncovers interactions between the sublime and the everyday (See: Themes). The speaker’s keen observations on the relationship between the bird and its natural surroundings and the poem’s affectionate portrayal of the bird itself also speak to Dickinson’s characteristic love for the natural world. Dickinson is noted for depicting animals, insects, and nature itself with sympathy and deep understanding, with some of her poetry even featuring anthropomorphism in humorous ways (e.