“Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson.

“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.

INTRODUCTION -

The poem “Hope” is the thing with feathers” was written by the famous poet Emily Dickinson around 1861. The poem consists of 12 lines divided into three quatrains. The first two quatrains follow the rhyme scheme of ABAB, while the last quatrain has a rhyme scheme of ABBB. In the poem, “Hope” is described as a strong-willed bird that lives within the human soul and sings a song no matter what to motivate us. The poem contains an abstract concept and uses metaphors and imageries to clarify its meaning.

POET -

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (10 December 1830 – 15 May 1886) was an American poet. Her poems mostly deal with themes of death and immortality. In her lifetime, she wrote 1775 poems but didn’t provide them with a title. Hence, all her works are known by their first line. Her most famous works include I'm Nobody! Who are you? , Success Is Counted Sweetest, There Is Another Sky, etc.

SUMMARY -

In the first four lines, the poet defines “Hope” as a feathered creature or a bird that dwells inside the human spirit. It is a part of us. This feathery thing sings a wordless melody, not stopping under any circumstances. The tune is one of motivation, asking us not to lose hope and keep moving ahead. Its tune sounds best when heard in stormy winds, i.e., when there are problems in life. Our hope can only be felt when something wrong happens in our life. Only an incredibly severe storm could stop this bird from singing. This dangerous storm must be fatal enough to do so. The “Hope” bird has made many people feel warm. The speaker has heard the bird’s singing in the most frigid places and on the most ominous seas. But in the speaker’s experiences, even the most intense ones, the bird has never asked for anything in return. It just continues singing, urging us not to give up. Hope is not only an emotion; it is a panacea for all our fears.

THEMES - 

• Hope - The first line of the poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” is a kind of hymn or praise written to honor the human potential for 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. The poem argues that hope is phenomenal and almost impossible to defeat. Furthermore, hope never asks for anything in return.

END -

In the poem, Dickinson explains how even in an unfortunate or critical situation, our hope always plays the role of a bird whose song urges one to keep going. The poem uses imagery and metaphors to describe the intense connection of hope with the human soul. Hence, it’s easy to say that hope helps us make our way to our aim without asking anything in return.