Amsden 1

Leah Amsden

Mrs. Puckett

Ap English Literature; Period 1

3 February 2023

Daily assignment #3

“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.

Emily Dickinson's poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” illustrates the importance of

hope in a human person. As the speaker reflects, “Hope” is metaphorically a bird “That perches

in the soul-” implying that hope resides inside humans. In the first stanza, the speaker feels that

hope “sings the tune without words-”. Just like a bird, it may not speak any specific language, yet

it is present in the human soul. Essentially the speaker is implying that hope “never stops at all”

it is miraculous and impossible to defeat. Furthermore, the speaker alludes to the expansive

power hope has over humans. Because hope shines through when hardships are in a person's life.

The speaker says she has had hope in the most difficult situations. Finally, Hope is always there,
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and “Yet—never—in Extremity, It asked a crumb of me” hope never asks for anything in return,

meaning it costs nothing for people to maintain hope. Extending, “‘Hope’ is the thing with

feathers-” encloses readers to make good use of Hope and to see it as an essential valuable part

of themselves. Dickinson showed the importance of human society to never lose hope because in

hardships hope will persist continuously within us.