A Fuzzy Fellow, Without Feet
poem 173
A Fuzzy Fellow, Without Feet - fact Summary
Dickinson's Nature Observation
This short poem personifies a caterpillar’s transformation with playful vividness. Dickinson observes a ‘‘fuzzy fellow’’ moving through grass and trees, sheltering in cocoons when storms come, and finally emerging altered and elegant. The tone is intimate and amused: the speaker claims small authority while acknowledging the insect’s ‘‘pretty secret.’’ The poem reflects Dickinson’s close attention to the natural world around her home, using a tiny life cycle to suggest change, concealment, and revealed beauty without moralizing or grand philosophical claims.
Read Complete AnalysesA fuzzy fellow, without feet, Yet doth exceeding run! Of velvet, is his Countenance, And his Complexion, dun! Sometime, he dwelleth in the grass! Sometime, upon a bough, From which he doth descend in plush Upon the Passer-by! All this in summer. But when winds alarm the Forest Folk, He taketh Damask Residence And struts in sewing silk! Then, finer than a Lady, Emerges in the spring! A Feather on each shoulder! You’d scarce recognize him! By Men, yclept Caterpillar! By me! But who am I, To tell the pretty secret Of the Butterfly!
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