A Bird came down the Walk-

Our 33rd Poem of the Week is Emily Dickinson's 'A Bird came down the Walk -'. This poem, along with much else, can be heard read by the author and broadcaster Garrison Keillor on his site The Writer's Almanac, which offers a daily podcast of readings from short poems.

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, plashless as they swim.