O little squirrel in the tree, Why are you looking down at me? My Daddy says that you have charm, I wouldn't do you any harm.
If you come down and we can meet, I'll give you this big nut to eat. And now you're climbing down the tree, I see you're not afraid of me.
But you are coming pretty near, And I am getting full of fear. O shall I run, or shall I stay?— But now—from me you shy away!—
A child spots a squirrel in a tree and decides to make friends. The speaker sounds young: the rhymes are simple, the lines are short, and there's a sweet bit of reassurance borrowed from "Daddy," who says squirrels have charm. The child promises not to hurt the animal and offers a big nut as bait.
Then the poem plays a small trick. The squirrel actually comes down, and the speaker, who was so confident a moment ago, suddenly gets scared. The title, "Who's Afraid?", turns out to be a question that changes its answer partway through. At first the squirrel seems to be the nervous one, and by the third stanza it's the child.
The mood is light, playful, and a little comic. The poem ends on a dash, with the squirrel scurrying off, leaving the child's bravado exposed and the nut still unclaimed. It's a gentle joke about how easy it is to be bold from a distance.