"Hope" is the thing with feathers -

analysis 1

"Hope is the thing with feathers" is a kind of hymn of praise, written to honor the human capacity for hope. Using extended metaphor, the poem portrays hope as a bird that lives within the human soul; this bird sings come rain or shine, gale or storm, good times or bad. The poem argues that hope is miraculous and almost impossible to defeat. Furthermore, hope never asks for anything in return—it costs nothing for people to maintain hope. By extension, then, "Hope is the thing with feathers" implores its readers to make good use of hope—and to see it as an essential, deeply valuable part of themselves. The poem begins by establishing its key metaphor—that hope is a bird. It then tells the reader more about this bird, adding detail, before showing it in different situations. The poem concludes by stating that, despite all it does, hope never asks for anything from the speaker. Overall, then, the poem turns hope into a vivid imagined character in order to show how important it is, both to individuals and to humanity as a whole. The poem initially defines hope as "the thing with feathers." Though it's obvious that this is a bird (as confirmed in line 7), the unusualness of this first description shows that the poem wants the reader to look afresh at hope—to see hope with clear eyes and not take it for granted. Starting with "hope is a bird" would have the same literal meaning but would feel much less surprising, and the surprise element helps establish the poem's purpose of redefining hope. This "Hope" bird "perches" in the soul, showing that the soul itself is hope's home. Hope is thus directly linked with the human spirit, where it sings without ever stopping. This perseverance, then, is a representation of humanity's infinite capacity for hope. Even in the depths of despair, the poem seems to say, people can still have hope—and this hope will sustain them. Indeed, the bird sings "sweetest" in the storm. In other words, hope shows its importance in times of adversity and seems to guide people through that adversity. This point could apply to humanity's challenges in a general sense, or it could relate to more personal experiences like individual grief and loss . In either case, hope gives people the strength to carry on, and it's at its most useful when circumstances are at their worst. Of course, there might be times when people do seem to lose their strength—but, the poem argues, hope still plays an important role in these situations . The poem demonstrates this by gesturing towards the sheer number of people ("so many") who have been sustained by hope, saying that it would have to be a truly "sore" "storm" that could diminish the strength of "the little Bird." Hope, it seems, can keep people "warm" even in the worst situations. And though hope is so essential to human life, the beauty of it—according to the poem—is that it requires practically nothing of people. Hope costs nothing, not a "crumb"—yet it can literally and figuratively keep people alive. With hope, people can make it through the hardest of times—they just have to listen to "the little Bird" singing its tune. Overall, then, "Hope is the thing with feathers" implores its readers to value their capacity for hope—and to recognize that it's never really gone. Without becoming overly specific, the poem argues that hope can be especially helpful in the most extreme situations and that people should therefore rely on it as a precious resource.

bakround

Emily Dickinson was a 19th century American poet who lived in Amherst, Massachusetts. She published very little during her lifetime—indeed, published work was predominantly put out by men—and was a famously reclusive figure. She valued the writings of William Wordsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as Charlotte Brontë and Shakespeare. During her early life, Dickinson went to a religious school and afterward continued to be preoccupied with questions about faith and the meaning of existence. Church literature, then, was also a major part of her literary context, and her poems often employ a meter and diction similar to that found in hymns (as is true in this case). Her posthumous influence was far-reaching and she is now considered one of the most important poets in the English language. "Hope is the thing with Feathers" is a particular type of Dickinson work, which might be called "definition poems." In these, the speaker sets out an abstract noun which is then discussed in concrete terms and images; this refreshes the abstract concept and casts it in a new light. Other famous poems that follow a similar set-up are "Grief is a Mouse" and "Fame is a Bee." Indeed, there are two other similar poems on hope specifically: "Hope is a strange invention" and "Hope is a subtle glutton." Historical Context The Puritan environment in which Dickinson grew up placed great emphasis on the proper morality of the Christian tradition. Religious revivalism was taking hold during Dickinson's lifetime, with competing ideas about the way in which people ought to serve God, including the temperance movement of which her own father was a part. The morality of slavery—and whether slavery should be abolished—was also an intensely debated issue at the forefront of the political scene, and which, of course, led to the outbreak of the American Civil War. Hope is a concept that has been and continues to be debated widely. It is, of course, at the center of the Christian tradition. If hope creates a link between two different moments in time with the expectation of better things to come in the future, then indeed much of the world's religion works similarly. Christians, for example, hope for deferred reward in exchange for living a morally virtuous life: entry into heaven. The medieval philosopher defined hope as a "divinely infused" virtue—a powerful trait granted to humankind by God.

answer

The major theme of the poem is that in the human heart, hope endures, defeating despair despite overwhelming circumstances. Hope "perches" in our soul, ever present. It prevails even when there is no cause or reason to be hopeful: And sings the tune without the words-- And never stops--at all-- Dickinson emphasizes that hope endures under the most difficult circumstances by extending her metaphor. She has heard the little bird's song "in the chillest land" and "on the strangest Sea." Even in times of greatest challenge, according to Dickinson, hope sustains us, keeping us warm. She does not take the position that hope is beyond defeat, but she maintains that it would require the very worst kind of storm to "abash the little Bird."

thees

Hope Hope is the main theme of the poem and is the subject of an extended metaphor. Hope is metaphorically depicted as a little bird, that carries on singing despite the troubles that it faces. Dickinson cleverly uses features and characteristics of a bird to illustrate her opinions about human hope in times of hardship. This poem is very optimistic, maintaining that hope is a force to be reckoned with, and sings in the face of adversity. Endurance Human endurance is a significant aspect of the poem and is symbolized by the strong little bird, who sings and endures extreme weather conditions. Dickinson is optimistic about the human ability to hope and survive through suffering. Human suffering Dickinson refers repeatedly to the inhospitable setting of the poem, in dark and stormy weather. This weather represents the hardships humans face, such as loss and grief. However, Dickinson maintains that hope can survive and endure anything. The use of seafaring imagery is also significant in Dickinson's depiction of human suffering. Seafaring is often used culturally as a symbol for hardship and endurance, which is subtly alluded to in this poem with the references to storms and gales.

essay

In summary, then: as with many of her poems, Emily Dickinson takes an abstract feeling or idea - in this case, hope - and likens it to something physical, visible, and tangible - here, a singing bird. Hope, for Dickinson, sings its wordless tune and never stops singing it: nothing can faze it. In other words (as it were), hope does not communicate by 'speaking' to us in a conventional sense: it is a feeling that we get, not always a rational one, that cheers us even in dark times of despair. Indeed, hope is sweetest of all when the 'Gale' is busy raging: during turbulent or troubled times, hope is there for us. And hope can withstand just about anything: even in times of cold comfort ('the chillest land') or in foreign or unfamiliar climes ('on the strangest Sea'), hope remains. And hope never asks for anything from us in return. It provides comfort and solace but does not require anything back. '"Hope" is the thing with feathers': analysis Note Dickinson's ingenious use of the word 'words' in the first stanza, which, coming at the end of the third line, looks back to the first line for a rhyme but instead of finding 'bird(s)' finds, instead, 'thing with feathers': 'Hope' is the thing with feathers -That perches in the soul -And sings the tune without the words -And never stops - at all - 'Bird' will be delayed until the second stanza, because Dickinson appears to want to reject any glib simile of 'hope = singing bird': And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -And sore must be the storm -That could abash the little BirdThat kept so many warm - The analogy must instead unfold and develop gradually. There is no 'My heart is like a singing bird' (to borrow from Dickinson's contemporary, Christina Rossetti) here. In her analysis of '"Hope" is the thing with feathers' in her book Dickinson, which contains a raft of fascinating and convincing readings of individual poems by Emily Dickinson, the critic Helen Vendler invites us to ponder the significance of the word 'thing'. According to the Emily Dickinson Lexicon (Vendler writes), Dickinson uses the word 115 different times across her work, with seven different meanings. It's always fascinating to study a poet's linguistic fingerprint, and analyse the kinds of words (and word-formations) they like to use in their work. These details help to make their work what it is an provide its distinctiveness. As Vendler observes, 'thing' represents Dickinson's 'single largest mental category', since it takes in everything from acts to creatures to concepts and occasions. 'It is as though she begins each general enquiry', Vendler notes, 'with the general question, "What sort of thing is this?" and then goes on to categorize it more minutely'. But there's something counter-intuitive about a poet whose work is defined by its peculiar and sometimes idiosyncratic attention to detail - describing the snow falling from clouds as being sifted from leaden sieves, for instance, or her wonderfully acute observation of a cat hunting a bird - making such wide and varied use of 'thing', a word which is, to borrow Vendler's adjective, 'bloodless'. We can picture an eagle or a parrot or a crow, but a 'thing with feathers'? No chance. Dickinson's is by no means the only notable poem about hope. We might also mention a poem by her namesake, Emily Brontë (1818-48). Like Dickinson, Brontë begins her poem by trying to define hope: Hope was but a timid friend;She sat without the grated den,Watching how my fate would tend,Even as selfish-hearted men. She was cruel in her fear;Through the bars one dreary day,I looked out to see her there,And she turned her face away! Brontë's is far more of a narrative poem with symbolic undertones (we've analysed it here), while Dickinson's is lyrical, focusing on the central metaphor. And it is direct metaphor rather than simile: '"Hope" is the thing with feathers'. But we might also note those quotation marks: Dickinson is talking about not hope but 'hope', the idea of hope, the way we talk about it rather than the reality. Already we have left behind the concrete realities of the world in favour of abstract ideas (or ideals). '"Hope" is the thing with feathers' is written in lines of alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter, meaning there are three four iambs in the odd lines and three iambs in the even lines. (An iamb is a metrical foot comprising one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed, as in the word 'because': 'be-CAUSE'.) So, in the middle stanza, we get: And SWEET- / est - IN / the GALE / - is HEARD -And SORE / must BE / the STORM -That COULD / a-BASH / the LIT- / tle BIRDThat KEPT / so MAN- / y WARM - To this analysis of the poem's metre, it's worth drawing attention to the opening trochaic substitution, announcing 'Hope' in the poem's very first line, as its very first word: '"HOPE" is', not '"Hope" IS'. The poem is written in quatrains rhymed abcb, although we should note that 'soul' and 'all' in the first stanza are not really rhymes but rather pararhyme: 'off-rhyme', if you will. Similarly, in the middle stanza, the rhyme follows the pattern abab, while the final stanza is really rhymed abbb, since 'Extremity' chimes with both 'Sea' and 'me'. This brings things together: not only the final three lines, but also the alignment of these various ideas with the speaker's self, their sense of 'me'.

tiny suary

The speaker defines "Hope" as a feathered creature that dwells inside the human spirit. This feathery thing sings a wordless tune, not stopping under any circumstances. Its tune sounds best when heard in fierce winds. Only an incredibly severe storm could stop this bird from singing. The "Hope" bird has made many people feel warm. The speaker has heard the bird's singing in the coldest places, and on the weirdest seas. But in the speaker's experiences, even the most extreme ones, the bird has never asked for anything in return.

speaker

The speaker in "Hope is the thing with feathers" is unspecified. Critics do draw parallels between the speaker of Dickinson's poems and the poet herself, but it would do a disservice to the power of her poetry by limiting its interpretation to autobiography. As with a number of Dickinson's poems, the speaker here seeks to offer up a new definition of an abstract concept: in this case, hope. This is a kind of imaginative challenge to both the speaker and the reader—the former must justify the metaphor (hope as a bird) and the latter must go on that journey with them in order to see the abstract concept afresh. In the first two stanzas, the speaker talks in universal terms about the "Hope" bird. It's in the final stanza that the speaker's authority to speak on the subject becomes clear. Here, the speaker relates how the metaphorical bird of hope helped the speaker through tough times—yet never asked a "crumb" in return. The poem generally has a confident and happy tone which is felt to be partly based on the way in which hope has helped the speaker through these difficult times. In other words, this person is talking from experience—and wants to gently remind the reader of the power of hope.

birdsong

Through extended metaphor, hope is transformed into a bird that rests within the human soul. As part of this metaphor, the poem draws a symbolic link between birdsong and the indomitable (undefeatable) power of hope. The song is the musical expression of hope, a small signal of joy that can be heard even in the worst of times. It is also a wordless "tune," which indicates that is something deeply felt and innate in humans; that is, hope is almost beyond language itself. In fact, the song sounds "sweetest" when it is heard "in the Gale." That is, hope is most effective in times of trouble. Its song links difficult times in the present with better times to come.

lines 1 -4

This poem is one of a number of works by Dickinson which work as a kind of extended definition, taking a particular word and casting it in a new, surprising light. Often, Dickinson does this through taking abstract concepts and applying concrete ideas or images to them—which happens in this poem by making "hope" into a bird. Of all Dickinson's "definition" poems, this is probably the most well-known. The opening line makes the poem's intentions clear—it will aim to explain how hope is like a bird, and why that connection is important in the first place. This said, it's important to note that the poem doesn't start by stating its metaphor directly; it doesn't say that "hope is a bird." Aside from being much less interesting, a line like that would require less imaginative engagement on the reader's part. Instead, hope is "the thing with feathers." The reader might well think of a bird immediately, but the phrase allows for a certain conceptual distance that justifies the rest of the poem—the following lines will explain what this "thing" is, and in what way it represents hope. This slightly mysterious beginning implies that people might not always recognize their own capacity for hope. The delicate consonance of /th/ in "thing," "feathers," and "that" also helps the poem get off to a gentle start, as though it is feeling its way into this new definition of hope. The meter of the line adds to this gentleness too. It's the only one in the poem to end with an unstressed syllable (apart from possibly line 11): "Hope" is | the thing | with fea- | -thers - The trochaic first foot also places strong emphasis on the word "hope," which is, of course, the whole point of the poem: to argue for the importance of hope. The second word of line 2, for most readers, probably confirms that this "Hope" thing is indeed a bird. "Perch" is a verb used almost exclusively for birds, and as a noun, the word has a connotation of signifying the bird's home or the place where it is at rest (think of how a bird in a cage rests on its perch). This "Hope" bird, the reader now knows, rests within "the soul," which is the poem's way of saying that hope is a fundamental part of being a human. The image also suggests that hope is always present—it's something that people can always return to, just as a bird returns to its perch.

intro

We all have important virtues that help us escape from the darkness that exists in our lives. When the going gets tough, it can be difficult to find confidence in a brighter future. For Emily Dickinson, life was a constant battle against mental illness and isolation. In her poem "Hope" is the thing with feathers, Dickinson displays her issues through her comparison of hope to a living creature. This relationship is important because it demonstrates how even in the worst times, there is always something to keep us going. Dickinson's extended metaphor comparing hope to a bird represents many of her personal experiences and is used to illustrate the optimism that exists within every human soul. Dickinson lived a life that was full of both faith ...show more content...She begins by stating that "'Hope' is the thing with feathers-"(). The first thing that stood out to me while reading this was the quotations around "hope". I believe that Dickinson did this to apply emphasis to the word and also to make it seem as though the word is being defined by the metaphor. Her intention was for the reading to later associate this word with the "thing with feathers", which is the bird. After this, Dickinson moves on to describe how the bird perches in the soul and sings the tune without any words. This lack of words is significant because it suggests that the song is pure and can be interpreted individually by each listener. At the end of the stanza, Dickinson concludes by saying that the bird never stops singing "- at all - ". The use of punctuation is very important here. In contrast to the rest of the lines that end with a dash, this line includes two dashed marks around "at all". This difference is used to emphasize that similar to the song of the bird, the hope which lives inside of us is eternal and cannot be blocked or broken. The overall message of this stanza is that hope lives within us and can never be let go ...show more content...The first two lines of the stanza state, "I've heard it in the chillest land- and on the strangest Sea -" (). I believe that Dickinson uses these pronouns because she has personally been saved by hope in her darkest hours. It is important that no matter where she goes in life, she can still hear the song. The next part of this stanza is significant as well because she discusses how this idea of the bird was alway

short

"Hope is the Thing with feathers" was first published in 1891. Without ever actually using the word "bird" but once, Dickinson likens hope itself to a creature of flight. The language of the first two lines suggests the weightlessness that hope brings with it: the upward motion of the wind ruffling through feathers; the lightness of a tiny bird on its perch, ready at a moment's notice to flutter away. The poem sings of the robust, enduring nature of hope. The picture of a tiny bird against gargantuan storms and gales reminds the reader of the immense power that even the smallest fragment of hope can hold, no matter how deep in the soul it is buried. Dickinson contrasts the "chill[y]," "strange" possibilities of the world we all face with the sweetness and warmth of the little bird. The tone of this poem is quite characteristic of Dickinson. Although she spent much of her life in seclusion and her experiences were limited, she was a dreamer and many of her poems glowed with promise and possibility. "'Hope' is the thing with feathers" simply and eloquently acknowledges the enduring human capability for hope. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She lived a quiet, secluded life and suffered occasionally from bouts of depression. Because the world she inhabited was small, her subject matter was limited but focused. Her garden was one of her greatest passions and appeared often in her writing. This seclusion also influenced her poetic voice - her poetry sings of the possibility of dreams not yet realized. Very few of Dickinson's poems were published when she was alive, and the depth of her poetry was not known until her family discovered her collection of poems after her death. Today, Dickinson is one of the most appreciated American poets. She is often admired for her efficient yet brilliant word choice and for defying the rigidity in form that limited many writers before her, though she leans heavily on Common (or hymnal) measure, with its 8-6-8-6 syllables and abab (however slant or subverted) rhyme.

for eter rhye she

"Hope is the thing with feathers" is one of a number by Dickinson which can perhaps be called her "definition poems." These are poems that start with an abstract concept (here, "hope"), followed by an "is," which is in turn followed by the main body of the poem that explains and justifies the comparison. This isn't done to show off the poet's skill of comparison and imagery, but to cast fresh light on the concept itself. Here, of course, hope is redefined as a bird, specifically one that dwells within the human soul. There are a number of poems that work in a similar way—there are even two others that also define "hope:" "Hope is a strange invention" and "Hope is a subtle glutton." Put broadly, the poem is one long extended metaphor, written in three quatrain stanzas. The first stanza introduces the metaphor and the bird's song; the second demonstrates the bird's resilience; and the third brings the poem into the more personal experience of the speaker. Meter "Hope is the thing with feathers" has a fairly regular meter that alternates between lines. Each stanza begins with a line of iambic tetrameter (four poetic feet, each with a da DUM syllable pattern) followed by a line of iambic trimeter (three feet of the same unstressed-stressed pattern). This pattern then repeats in the second half of each stanza too, making the entire poem conform to this alternating pattern. In fact, all lines follow this scheme except for the first. To take the second quatrain as an example, the pattern is as follows: And sweet- | est - in | the Gale - | is heard - |And sore | must be | the storm - |That could | a-bash | the litt-| le Bird |That kept | so man-| y warm - | The regularity of the meter makes the poem sound musical, like a song. This makes sense, as much of it is about the "Hope" bird's singing. Indeed, this metrical scheme is often called "hymn meter" precisely because it lends itself well to being sung. A number of church hymns follow this pattern—as do many Dickinson poems (e.g. "Because I Could not Stop for Death"). This meter is also known as "common meter." The first line notably stands out in this otherwise metrically stable poem, and has two variations in the meter. The first foot opens with a trochee (stressed-unstressed), which places strong emphasis on the word "hope"—which is, after all, the poem's main subject. The other difference is that the final foot is catalectic, which means that it is missing a syllable. In this case, there would be a final stressed syllable after "feathers"—but the fact that there isn't makes the line sound much more gentle and, indeed, feather-like: "Hope" is | the thing | with fea-| thers - Rhyme Scheme "Hope is the thing with feathers" has a fairly regular rhyme scheme. The first two stanzas are rhymed: ABAB The final stanza is a little different: ABBB The rhymes combine with other poetic elements to create a musical-sounding poem, which is in keeping with the discussion of birdsong. The first stanza also uses slant rhymes, which is characteristic of Dickinson's poetry: feathers/words, soul/all. Perhaps this is because the poem is still feeling its way into its redefinition of "Hope"; or perhaps it evokes the preciousness of the small, feathery bird. In the second stanza, the rhymes are more solid: heard/bird and storm/warm. Seeing as this stanza discusses the bird singing through storms, it makes sense that the "volume" of the rhymes here is louder. The bird has to sing louder to be heard in such strong winds—just as hope is at its most useful in times of distress. The triple rhyme in the poem's last three lines—Sea/Extremity/me—is suggestive of the speaker's personal experiences. That is, the increase in rhymes hints at the "extremity" of the times that the speaker is describing—those moments when life is at its toughest.

setting

"Hope is the thing with feathers" is one of a number of Dickinson poems that takes an abstract concept and refreshes it with concrete language and images. Here, there is one extended metaphor throughout: hope is a bird. The setting of the poem plays out as metaphor grows, and subtly changes from stanza to stanza. Thought of in the broadest terms, the whole poem takes place in the speaker's mind—or, perhaps, in the space between the speaker and the reader. That is, the speaker asks the reader to follow along on an imaginative journey that justifies the idea that hope can be thought of as a bird. More specifically, the first stanza introduces the human soul as a kind of location in which the "Hope" bird lives. The second stanza conjures up storms and gales, through which the song of hope can still be heard (and, in fact, sounds sweeter). The final stanza brings the poem more into the realm of personal experience, with the speaker showing how hope has helped them. The setting at the end, then, is the speaker's world.

ery long

"Hope" Is The Thing With Feathers is one of the best known of Emily Dickinson's poems. An extended metaphor, it likens the concept of hope to a feathered bird that is permanently perched in the soul of every human. There it sings, never stopping in its quest to inspire. Emily Dickinson wrote this poem in 1862, a prolific year for her poetry, one of nearly 1800 poems she penned during her lifetime. Only seven of these were published while she was still alive. Her sister Lavinia collected and helped publish all of her poems after Emily's death in 1886. The Belle of Amherst, so called, remains an enigma. Her poetry was highly original but was dismissed or simply misunderstood when she sent her work out for appraisal or publication. It was only after she had passed away and her poems circulated more widely that critics began to appreciate her genius. Her poems, together with those of Walt Whitman, were pioneering works that pointed the way to a new and refreshing era of poetry in the English speaking world. Emily Dickinson seems to have been a recluse for most of her adult life, living at the family home, only rarely venturing out. Quiet and timid, she never married or actively sought a permanent relationship, despite correspondence with several older men she viewed as her protectors. Her poetry however reflects a lively, imaginative and dynamic inner world; she was able to capture universal moments in a simple sentence, create metaphors that have stood the test of time. Hope Is The Thing With Feathers stands out as a reminder to all - no matter the circumstances each and every one of us has this entity within that is always there to help us out, by singing. Summary of Hope Is The Thing With Feathers Full of figurative language, this poem is an extended metaphor, transforming hope into a bird (the poet loved birds) that is ever present in the human soul. It sings, especially when times get tough. Hope springs eternal, might be a reasonable summing up. With typical disregard for convention, Emily Dickinson's odd looking syntax has clauses interrupted by dashes, and only one comma throughout. This can be confusing for the reader because of the need to pause and place extra emphasis on certain phrases. The rhythm of the poem varies in places too, which may not be apparent on first sighting. Readily set to music, the words are a reminder of the poet's yearning for fulfilment in both creativity and love. And they beautifully encapsulate what hope is for us all - something that inspires and can make us fly. 314 "Hope" Is The Thing With Feathers Hope Is The Thing With Feathers Analysis Stanza By Stanza Emily Dickinson did not give titles to her poems so the first line is always given as the title. Her poems are also given numbers. In 1998 R.W.Franklin published a definitive version of her poems, closely following the poet's form and layout, and this poem is number 314. First Stanza The first word is given special emphasis with speech marks (inverted commas, quotation marks) as if the poet wants to define that elusive word "Hope", and she does so with metaphor. Hope has feathers and it can, like a bird, perch in the human soul. Feathers are soft and gentle to the touch but they are also strong in flight, even on tiny birds. And feathers are made up of complex individual fibres; unity is strength. The imagery here grows stronger as the reader progresses. Not only is Hope feathery, it can sing. It sits on a perch and sings the whole time. But the song is special for there are no words, no diction for anyone to understand rationally. It's as if Hope is pure song, pure feeling, a deep seated longing that can take flight at any time. The song is endless. Note the double dash emphasis on - at all - and the stanza break which brings extra attention to these two little words. Second Stanza The first line is unusual in the use of the double dash - there are two distinct pauses which the reader has to be careful with. Hope is always singing as we know from the first stanza but it sings the sweetest when the going gets rough, when the Gale starts to blow. So, when life is hard and things are thrown at us, the pressure relentless, there is Hope, singing through the chaos and mayhem. Note the first mention of the bird in line 7. It would take a hellish storm to embarrass or disconcert this bird (sore - angry and abash - embarrass) which protects many people from adverse situations. Hope is difficult to disturb, even when life seems hard. Third Stanza The personal pronoun I appears for the first time, indicating a personal connection to this subject perhaps? Emily Dickinson thought of herself as a little bird (a wren) so the link is direct. The speaker has heard the bird during the hardest, coldest times, when emotions are churning and life surreal. But even when things are extreme Hope is still there and never asks for anything. Hope gives us much but never asks for a crumb in return. It is all inspirational, yet slightly mysterious. Hope wells up in the heart and soul yet who knows where it comes from? Philosophy, religion, psychology and even metaphor are not sufficient - there is an abstract nature to Hope. It can give us strength to carry on in the most adverse of conditions. Its voice can be heard, despite the noise at the height of the storm. Analysis of Hope Is The Thing With Feathers Hope Is The Thing With Feathers is a short poem with three stanzas, each one a quatrain. Rhyme The rhyme scheme is abcb, the second and fourth lines rhyme full except for the half rhyme in the first stanza, soul/all. 2nd stanza - note the additional full rhyme of lines 1 and 3 (heard/bird) which helps tighten the mid section of the poem and places emphasis on the bird's ability to sing sweeter. Syntax Emily Dickinson used a lot of dashes in her poetry and this poem has a total of 15, which creates unusual syntax - the way the clauses fit together with punctuation, meter (metre in UK) and enjambment. It's as if, for every breath she took whilst creating and reading through her lines, she wrote a dash, instead of, say, a comma. In addition, certain phrases are enclosed in a separate double dash, which places particular emphasis on meaning. Note: - at all - in the first stanza, and -in the Gale - in the second, plus - never - in the final stanza. What is The Meter in Hope Is The Thing With feathers? As with many of Emily Dickinson's poems, this one follows a basic iambic trimeter rhythm, with an extra syllable in the first and third lines of each stanza. But there are lines that do not conform to the iambic beat. Hope is / the thing / with feathers - so we have an opening trochee followed by two iambs and extra beat or feminine ending. Emphasis when reading falls on the opening word. That per / ches in / the soul - Iambic trimeter continues in the second line. I've heard / it in / the chill / est land - the 9th line could be scanned as iambic tetrameter. Yet - nev / er - in / Extre / mity, note spondee, pyrrhic and two iambs in line 11.

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Popularity: Written by Emily Dickinson, an American poet, "Hope" is the Thing with Feathers" is a masterpiece of spiritual expressions about hope and its impacts on the mind. It was first published in 1891 and gained immense popularity due to its subject. Emily has presented hope as an ever-singing and selfless bird within the soul of a person. According to her, hope as a golden quality of human being that shines even during adversity. Using it as a metaphor, she has highlighted the importance of being hopeful and optimistic. Dickenson also explains that only hope can help us to remain positive during extreme situations. Representation of "Hope" as a God-gifted Quality: The poet compares hope with a free and courageous bird that sings its wordless tune no matter what the situation is. This bird, as a silent companion, continues to preach the soul to stay steadfast and hopeful regardless of obstacles. Its song helps the devastated souls to regain their senses. By using the word "at all," Dickenson shows that hope is everlasting, ever shining and undefeatable. She compares human struggle with the storm and illustrates that hope serves as a beacon of light in that storm. Towards the end, she represents her own miserable plight. She expresses that hope helped her survive the tests and trials of her life. Major Themes in "Hope" is the Thing with Feathers: Hope is the major theme that runs throughout the poem. Emily says that hope resides in the hearts for good. It liberates us from despair and gives us the strength to move on. It only empowers us and in return demands nothing. Briefly, as the sole theme of this poem, hope has been personified to show its importance to the weak souls. Alliteration: It refers to the repetition of the same consonant sounds occurring close together in a row to create musical effects such as /h/ sound in "we have heard it in the chilliest land" where this sound has created a musical quality in the line. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as the sound of /th/ in "the tune without the words" and the sound of /t/ in "that could abet the little bird." Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /i/ in "I've heard it in the chilliest land." Metaphor: There is one extended metaphor in the poem. Dickenson has compared hope with "feathers"/ "bird" which shows how it sings and gives courage to the spirit of a person. Personification: When an inanimate object is given human characteristics or qualities, it is personified. In the first stanza, Dickenson considers hoping a preacher that keeps on preaching and never stops. It sings its silent song in the hearts of the men to fill them with spiritual power. In other words, she has personified hope in this poem. Imagery: Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things through five senses. It helps them to create a mental picture of the objects described. The poet has used images for the sense of sight such as, "bird", "feathers", "storm", "land" and "sea." Symbol: Emily has used many symbols to show the powerful impact of hope in our lives. "Chilliest Sea" and "storm" symbolize struggles during trying times when hope is still ther

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Summary The speaker describes hope as a bird ("the thing with feathers") that perches in the soul. There, it sings wordlessly and without pause. The song of hope sounds sweetest "in the Gale," and it would require a terrifying storm to ever "abash the little Bird / That kept so many warm." The speaker says that she has heard the bird of hope "in the chillest land— / And on the strangest Sea—", but never, no matter how extreme the conditions, did it ever ask for a single crumb from her. Form Like almost all of Dickinson's poems, " 'Hope' is the thing with feathers—..." takes the form of an iambic trimeter that often expands to include a fourth stress at the end of the line (as in "And sings the tune without the words—"). Like almost all of her poems, it modifies and breaks up the rhythmic flow with long dashes indicating breaks and pauses ("And never stops—at all—"). The stanzas, as in most of Dickinson's lyrics, rhyme loosely in an ABCB scheme, though in this poem there are some incidental carryover rhymes: "words" in line three of the first stanza rhymes with "heard" and "Bird" in the second; "Extremity" rhymes with "Sea" and "Me" in the third stanza, thus, technically conforming to an ABBB rhyme scheme. Commentary This simple, metaphorical description of hope as a bird singing in the soul is another example of Dickinson's homiletic style, derived from Psalms and religious hymns. Dickinson introduces her metaphor in the first two lines (" 'Hope' is the thing with feathers— / That perches in the soul—"), then develops it throughout the poem by telling what the bird does (sing), how it reacts to hardship (it is unabashed in the storm), where it can be found (everywhere, from "chillest land" to "strangest Sea"), and what it asks for itself (nothing, not even a single crumb). Though written after "Success is counted sweetest," this is still an early poem for Dickinson, and neither her language nor her themes here are as complicated and explosive as they would become in her more mature work from the mid-1860s. Still, we find a few of the verbal shocks that so characterize Dickinson's mature style: the use of "abash," for instance, to describe the storm's potential effect on the bird, wrenches the reader back to the reality behind the pretty metaphor; while a singing bird cannot exactly be "abashed," the word describes the effect of the storm—or a more general hardship—upon the speaker's hopes.

anaphora

The poem uses anaphora in lines 7 and 8, though the polysyndeton (the "ands") of lines 3 through 6 is a type of anaphora too.7 The anaphora works (along with the polysyndeton) to create an atmosphere of intense perseverance throughout the entire poem. One of the poem's main points is that hope is almost impossible to defeat, which is why it is so important to humanity—indeed, hope is most useful when times are hardest. The repetitive line beginnings, then, evoke strength—the ability to push on one from moment to the next without losing any momentum. Indeed, lines 5 through 8 have to literally weather the storm that they describe, with the "ands" and "thats" working like anchors steadying a ship. In fact, "ands" and "thats" form the beginnings of eight out of the poem's twelve lines—two thirds of the entire poem. Apart from the first line, which works as an introduction, and the lines in the final stanza that deal with the speaker's personal experience, every line is anaphoric. In other words, anaphora is everywhere—just like hope. There is another way of looking at this anaphora, too. Part of the "Hope" bird's power is in its song, which is a symbol of joy, beauty, and strength. Since one way of defining music is by thinking of it as the patterned organization and variation of sound, then the anaphora can be read as part of the bird's melody too. That is, it helps the lines combine repetition and variation in much the same way that real birdsong might.