Unit-7 “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 -
Emily Dickinson is the poetess of this poem. She is a well known American poetess. In the first
verse of this quatrain/stanza she compares hope to bird by using metaphor. She says that hope
sits in our mind, and from there it encourages us to be brave in all kinds of challenges. Hope
sings sweet song to motivate us, and it never stops singing. The song of hope has no words but
still it is very melodious.
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
Emily Dickinson, in the second quatrain of this poem, says that hope supports us when we face
storm or challenges. The storm, the difficulty, can be a challenging one. Such challenge can
push a little bird against the wall. But the little bird has passed through such challenges for a
number of times, and the bird of hope will never make it frightened while facing this storm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
In the last quatrain of this poem the poetess says that hope encourages us even in the most difficult
situations of our life. According to Emily Dickinson, hope keeps us alive when we are in deep water.
When we have no one to ask for help, we have hope to survive as it motivates us to not give up. She
says that hope never demands any thing from us but it encourages us all the time in all kinds of
problems.