Speaker or Narrator, and Point of View
The poem is told from the perspective of a male first-person speaker's point of view. He begins with a more general overview of the "narrow fellow's" characteristics before delving deeper into his own boyhood recollections.
Form and Meter
The poem is written in blank verse, with no rhyme scheme.
Metaphors and Similes
The main metaphor in the poem is the snake's relationship with the speaker. The snake is a dangerous creature and the narrator recognizes its power. At the same time, the narrator feels unable to stay away from the snake and wants to grasp it. The snake is used here as an extended metaphor for nature. The speaker suggests that humans always feels the need to control nature when it frightens them.
Alliteration and Assonance
There is alliteration in the S sounds of the line "A spotted Shaft is seen" and the B sounds in the line "But when a Boy and Barefoot."
Irony
N/A
Genre
Nature poetry
Setting
The action described in the poem takes place in an open field at noon.
Tone
The tone used in the poem is a mixture of wonder and fear.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The narrator is the protagonist and the antagonist is the snake.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between the speaker's desire to understand and conquer the snake and his instinct to run away from it.
Climax
The poem reaches its climax when the speaker reaches for the snake and it slips away from his hands.
Foreshadowing
The phrase "notice instant" in the first line of the poem foreshadows the "narrow fellow" being a frightening snake.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
There is personification in the line "A narrow Fellow in the Grass" as it refers to the snake as a male human.
Hyperbole
N/A
Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is present in the line “hissing as he goes.”