"A Bird Came Down To Walk"A bird came down the walk:

He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,--
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, splashless, as they swim.

Analysis/ Comment

The speaker simply describes what he or she saw: a bird. This poem practically describes the bird's every aciton; from its walking, eating, hopping and its glances to its head movements using several similes (in Line 3 S. 3). Then, on the 3rd stanza, when the speaker interferes the creature in the frame, with caution to feed the bird, the bird retreated its feathers and stepped back slowly just like the "oars divide the ocean" (L1, S5) or as the butterflies jump, splashless as they swim. In other words, the bird refused the food (that was offered) gracefully and in a sense of "good manner". "A Bird Came Down To Walk: is not just a descriptive poem because, as we all know, Emily Dickinson, a lot of times refer her personale or emotion status to us readers using metaphors. The bird might represent the poet herself; independent woman that tries her best to survive on her own, trying be tough against life (like the bird with the worm). But when help or compassion comes to her, she would refuse with a good attitude that also says "thank you".

The author, apart from narrating her life in such a creative way, she is actually trying to teach us to be independent individuals in this society, like the bird in nature. And some times, we shouldn't be afraid to refuse help that is not necessary.

Link

http://mb.sparknotes.com/mb/epl?b=786&m=398510&p=15&t=44389