Emily Dickinson Hope

“Hope is the thing with feathers” Analysis In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers”, the author establishes hope as an eternal symbol in trying times. Dickinson writes that hope is everlasting in “the gale” (paragraph 1), “the storm” (paragraph 2), and “the chillest land” (paragraph 3). Initially, hope is personified as a “thing with feathers / that perches in the soul” (paragraph 1) instead of a bird because hope is not synonymous with a bird; hope is always there, becoming part of the person, unlike a bird which could fly away. For instance, hope is “sweetest in the gale” (paragraph 2) because hope does its best in the winds of life; hope lingers in a person despite the challenge. Furthermore, during “the storm” (paragraph