The Speaker
The speaker is a first-person observer and likely a stand-in for Dickinson herself. The subtlety and style of the observations the speaker makes are consistent with much of Dickinson's other work, particularly the poems that stage an encounter with nature. In this poem, the speaker alternates between various emotions surrounding her observation of this bird. Initially she is frightened by the bird's consumption of a worm. However, she transitions quickly between fear to respect and back with each small change in the bird's actions. This unsettled dynamic in her tone makes clear her combination of fright and admiration for the bird. The poem, in many regards, centers on the progression of her feelings about the bird.
The Bird
The other main character of the poem is the bird. In fact, very little of the actual text is concerned with the speaker's description of herself. The bird is essentially the main subject. Its actions portray it in a shifting light. At the poem's beginning, it is showing eating a worm with a pronounced violence. But almost immediately it is then shown doing more serene tasks: drinking dew, clearing out of the path of a beetle, and turning its head to observe the space around it. After the speaker offers it a crumb, it lifts into flight. The moment in which it is in flight it becomes more abstract in the speaker's eye, both beautiful and mysterious in its departure. Taken as a whole, the bird is a mercurial creature capable of many different poses and actions. The speaker is unable to reduce the bird to one simplistic image or attribute, as all of these scenes capture something important about it.
