Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
“Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul…..
And sings the tune without the words…..
And never stops….at all….
And sweetest… in the Gale….is heard…
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm
I’ve heard it in the chillest land…
And on the strangest Sea
Yet, never, in Extremity
It asked a crumb …. of Me
Dickinson defines hope by comparing it to a bird (a metaphor) .
Stanza one
Hope is a "thing" because it is a feeling; the thing/feeling is like a bird. Dickinson uses the standard dictionary format for a definition; first she places the word in a general category ("thing"), and then she differentiates it from everything else in that category. For instance, the definition of a cat would run something like this: a cat is a mammal (the first part of the definition places it in a category); the rest of the definition would be "which is nocturnal, fur-bearing, hunts at night, has pointed ears, etc. (the second part of the definition differentiates the cat from other all mammals).
How would hope "perch," and why does it perch in the soul? As you read this poem, keep in mind that the subject is hope and that the bird metaphor is only defining hope. Whatever is being said of the bird applies to hope, and the application to hope is Dickinson's point in this poem.
The bird "sings." Is this a good or a bad thing? The tune is "without words." Is hope a matter of words, or is it a feeling about the future, a feeling which consists both of desire and expectation? Psychologically, is it true that hope never fails us, that hope is always possible?
Stanza two
Why is hope "sweetest" during a storm? When do we most need hope, when things are going well or when they are going badly?
Sore is being used in the sense of very great or severe; abash means to make ashamed, embarrassed, or self-conscious. Essentially only the most extreme or
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul…..
And sings the tune without the words…..
And never stops….at all….
And sweetest… in the Gale….is heard…
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm
I’ve heard it in the chillest land…
And on the strangest Sea
Yet, never, in Extremity
It asked a crumb …. of Me
Dickinson defines hope by comparing it to a bird (a metaphor) .
Stanza one
Hope is a "thing" because it is a feeling; the thing/feeling is like a bird. Dickinson uses the standard dictionary format for a definition; first she places the word in a general category ("thing"), and then she differentiates it from everything else in that category. For instance, the definition of a cat would run something like this: a cat is a mammal (the first part of the definition places it in a category); the rest of the definition would be "which is nocturnal, fur-bearing, hunts at night, has pointed ears, etc. (the second part of the definition differentiates the cat from other all mammals).
How would hope "perch," and why does it perch in the soul? As you read this poem, keep in mind that the subject is hope and that the bird metaphor is only defining hope. Whatever is being said of the bird applies to hope, and the application to hope is Dickinson's point in this poem.
The bird "sings." Is this a good or a bad thing? The tune is "without words." Is hope a matter of words, or is it a feeling about the future, a feeling which consists both of desire and expectation? Psychologically, is it true that hope never fails us, that hope is always possible?
Stanza two
Why is hope "sweetest" during a storm? When do we most need hope, when things are going well or when they are going badly?
Sore is being used in the sense of very great or severe; abash means to make ashamed, embarrassed, or self-conscious. Essentially only the most extreme or