Summary
In the second half of the poem, the speaker zooms in on his personal experience with the snake. He recounts his sighting of the snake and subsequent attempts to grab it, only to find that it had eluded him. He then contrasts his feelings about snakes with his feelings about other animals, saying he does not feel the same level of comfort with them. He goes on to say that he has never encountered a snake that did not make him feel a certain degree of unease.
Analysis
In its later stanzas, the poem moves into the speaker's more personalized memories of the snake. These more emotional stanzas offer a more complete portrayal of the snake and its effect on the speaker. Dickinson utilizes precise details to further solidify the snake's characterization as elusive and unsettling.
The first two lines line of the fourth stanza ("Have passed I thought a Whip Lash / Unbraiding in the Sun") complete the line ("I more than once at Noon") that preceded them. These lines show the speaker as an overly curious, barefoot child encountering the snake in the wild. They also place the memory in time. Seeing the snake, the speaker reaches for it, "stooping to secure it" only to find that it has "wrinkled" and "gone." The snake's ability to avoid the speaker's clutches only solidifies its characterization as stealthy and quick. The words "Whip Lash" and "Unbraiding" show the snake to be capable of concealing its true form, even at first glance. It is notable that the snake does not just escape from the speaker's hand, but actually manages to dodge him entirely. This scene has a magical quality to it. The snake is able to vanish with almost no trace, leaving the speaker mystified and confused. No full explanation is given for the snake's capacity to disappear, and his true form has never actually been perceived by the speaker. It is worthwhile to note that up to this point, the snake has not been depicted in full. The reader is only offered passing glances of it. This withholding of information underlines the way in which the snake avoids complete knowability and confinement. The speaker cannot hold or even see the snake entirely. It remains elusive.
The fifth stanza is slightly more abstract, but marks the speaker's feeling about the snake in contrast to other animals. The speaker states that he knows (and is known by) "Several of Nature’s People" and that he feels "a transport / Of Cordiality" for them. He is revealing the comfortably respectful relationship he has with these animals. This mutual understanding between them makes these creatures more familiar to him, and less frightening as a result. But, as the reader discovers in the final stanza, the snake provokes different feelings in the speaker. He says that he has "never met this Fellow / attended or alone / Without a tighter Breathing / And Zero at the Bone." The speaker is describing the way in which every meeting with snakes makes him ill at ease: constricting his breath and giving him chills. He has distinguished his perception of the snake from other animals, showing the fear it elicits in him. He is also revealing his inability to separate that uneasiness from his awe. The snake may be another natural wonder, but its core quality of stealth makes it perpetually unsettling. This fact is reinforced by the speaker's unchanging opinion of the snake. The use of the word "never" makes it clear that this boyhood view has fully solidified in adulthood. His inability to grasp the creature has prevented him from appreciating its capabilities at anything but a safe distance. He is still frightened by its mystery.
"A narrow Fellow in the Grass" explores themes familiar from some of Dickinson's other nature poetry, but it makes itself unique in these closing stanzas. The speaker's boyhood curiosity curdles into awestruck fear and remains that way. The snake is characterized as an elusive force of nature, never quite in the grasp of the speaker or, as the opening lines make clear, the reader.
