Narrow Fellow in the Grass

1. Narrow Fellow in the Grass Alison Aitken 2011

2. Opens with snake– not “I” Long “o” + long “i” sound mimics snake’s curved movement – polysyllabic words A narrow fellow in the grass Occasionally rides You may have met him – did you not? His notice sudden is. Short, monosyllabic words mimic abrupt, non-rhythmical, human interjection/Q Snake = personified, masculine, “fellow” Rides – suggests control, power Subtle juxtaposition? Curved, rhythmic, organic motion of snake Vs Short, abrupt, stilted, artificial human interjection? Inverted syntax = emphasis on snake “His” = subject – power? Does he notice YOU or you notice HIM? Syntax jars reading, break in “flow” Sibilant “s” and “c” sounds = mouthful! Dissonance?

3. Simile: man-made “comb” Sp, sh, s – sibilant (whispery) sounds evoke ominous/beautiful? atmosphere The grass divides as with comb, A spotted shaft is seen, And then it closes at your feet And opens further on. shaft often associated with man -made implements (arrows, mines etc) Second person “your” – involves reader (do we belong in the text here?) Closes at your feet – not afraid of YOU! Who is in power here? Comb, closes, opens – assonance = slow, relaxed movement of snake? Are you relaxed?

4. Boggy (adjective -humans don’t usually desire this – uncivilised) He likes a boggyacre, A floor to cool for corn; Yet when a boy and barefoot, I more than once at noon Acre, floor – man made constructs – elevates snake – human parity? ED’s punctuation unravels scene slowly When a boy – shift in time – backwards – male persona (not ED!) He likes places that are opposite to man’s cultivation (“floor to cool for corn”, a “boggy acre”) He belongs in the natural, uncultivated world Barefoot – danger? Risky? Why the need for a boy’s persona? Does a female not “belong” to this world of discovery, exploration, risk? More than once – suggests appetite for exploration, seeing snake?

5. Have passed, I thought, a whiplash Unbraiding in the sun; When stooping to secure it, It wrinkled and was gone. Whiplash – man made Unbraiding – unfurling, opening up Stooping (long, slow sound, slow movement to “secure” snake) Commas, semi-colon, full stop – punctuation allows ED to “unbraid” or “unravel” scene, step by step. Do we belong in some way to this in the reading moment ? (mimics boy’s movement) Was gone (short words – snake disappears quickly) Full stop – finality – snake in power again? Elusive nature

6. Snake is just one of nature’s people? Several of nature’s people I know, and they know me; I feel for them a transport Of cordiality Does ED/persona “know” more of “nature’s people”? Reciprocity – I know, and they know me; Two way relationship, companionship Warmth, love of nature, equal regard Transport – intense emotion Cordiality– sincerity, warmth, affection (I feel for nature’s people an intense emotion of warm affection) Semi-colon = pause – suggest importance of this line – reciprocity important? Can she not get this from people-people, only nature’s people?

7. Tighter breathing – economical, terse – intense, provokes anxiety But never met this fellow Attended or alone, Without a tighter breathing And zero at the bone. To be “attended” does not negate the snake’s power to frighten Repeated “o” sound – frightening, ominous tone (fellow, alone, zero, bone) Zero at the bone –We “get this” instantly - at an almost sub-conscious level – the phrase is hauntingly evocative of fear/panic. We understand it without total consciousness of its defined meaning. (Zero as in temperature?) Duality/confliction of nature – fear-inducing, yet evokes intense warmth (cordiality) and passion (transport)

8. It is absolutely essential that you… • Devise your own insights into belonging • Phrase it in your own words • Understand what you are writing about • There are 100s of possible “insights into belonging” from just this poem!

9. Here are some… • An individual can experience belonging with nature (respect, affection, reciprocity, equality) • Belonging/connectedness (with nature) requires two way interactions (I know them and they know me;) • A reader can belong to a text in that moment (use of second person, immediacy, vivid recreation of particular scenario) • We can belong to nature in that it may have power over us (is it our possession to “secure it” or can it just as easily “secure” us through our fear of it?) • A persona can allow a poet to “belong” to a world outside of her accepted sphere (boy’s world) • Belonging requires acceptance of “the other” for their natural (unfiltered, uncivilised?) qualities (frightening, elusive) • Nature can, through its elusiveness, avoid “belonging” to another (as a possession) • Parity/equality is important for belonging – snake is personified so that it is equal to human persona • A natural creature may “belong to” and “like” places (boggy acre, floor to cool for corn) where a human cannot “belong” • Different elements “belong” in different environments (corn – warmth, snake – boggy acre) • Things can evade physical capture but still belong to an individual through their experience of it • Imagination can allow one to experience what it is like to “belong” to another gender • An individual can belong to the civilised world of “acre[s], whiplash, comb[s] at the same time as belonging to the natural world

10. A few other thoughts… • The snake is unnamed – relies on ED’s terse but powerful imagery. • A name/definition is unimportant – the snake belongs to itself (not to our “category”?) • Nature’s people (the snake/people belong to nature – NB: Possessive apostrophes – belonging!) • Snake is personified – elevates snake to human level – belonging, unity despite stark differences? • Human constructs of control/belonging to civilisation – comb, shaft, acre, floor, whiplash…(our world, not the snake’s world or shared world?) • Belonging to two worlds: natural and controlled