Hope is the thing with feathers-

“Hope is the thing with feathers-”

Hope is a manifestation which resides in the deepest parts of an individual’s humanity. It is ever present, and it “never stops” pushing the individual through the toughest times, the toughest gales. Though times may bury hope, it always rises again, keeping “so many warm.” Like a real friend, our inner hope will always be on our side, never asking for anything in return. 

Emily Dickinson created a simple and short masterpiece when she penned “Hope is the thing with feathers-.” Dickinson uses the juxtaposition of negative and positive language to build a strong contrast that is revealed throughout the entire poem. This contrasts forces readers to analyze the meanings of the words at a deeper level. 

“Hope is the thing with feathers-” follows Dickinson’s style of stating a word then using poetry to define it. In this case, she uses a metaphor of a bird as a representation of hope and extends this through the poem until the end. Like a bird, it has a place where it perches. Hope resides inside the soul of an individual, always present, and always singing. At times extremity may seem as if it’s overpowering, like a chaotic scene that is too full of noise to hear the beauty of a bird’s song, but hope is always present, and the bird will always be singing; hope will always be pushing the individual through the tough times. 

Dickinson uses contrasting language to develop traits for the extremes she portrays in her poem: hope and despair. Hope is blatantly described, unlike despair. Words such “gale,” “sore,” “extremity,” and “abash” provide the reader with an inner sense of the despair Dickinson is using to contrast with hope. Those aforementioned negative words are placed next to positive words such as “sweetest” and “warm.” The placement of such contradictory terms next to each other makes the reader contemplate the definitions of the words at a deeper level. 

The poem is structured in such a way that reading it naturally leads to a concluding end. Dickinson uses iambic trimeter alternating with iambic tetrameter to bring the reader easily through the three stanzas. The lines also alternate between six and eight syllables after the first line. I feel that this repetition matches with Emily Dickinson’s style to use hymn meter as a model for her poems. It’s ballad meter matches with the style of  hymns, but at times she breaks from this structured meter to provide emphasis to certain words or lines. 

The bird is a universal symbol for freedom. Dickinson explores this aspect of the symbol in her portrayal of hope. Many people are held captive by their fears, oppression, chaos. However, hope “perches” in their soul and continually “sings the tune,” much like a bird, to inspire an individual to fight for life. To Dickinson, a bird cannot be burdened to the point of falling from the sky, no matter what storm faces it, and like a bird, hope can not be snuffed out of a person’s soul. All a person must do is listen for the bird’s song. 

Lastly, the bird never asks anything from the speaker of the poem. This furthers the hymnic inspiration of style of poem. Most hymns deal with God and his faithfulness. Dickinson links God’s faithfulness to the faithfulness of hope to help the human soul through the use of ballad meter. Also, since the concept of hope, as Dickinson portrays it, is omnipresent, it fits the character of God. No matter what an individual may go through, hope will never ask for something in return. It is not something that is awarded to people based on class, wealth, or social prominence. It is given to all people freely. 

Emily Dickinson uses a seemingly simple poem to develop a strong metaphor. She juxtaposes negative and positive terms to focus the individual’s mind hope and despair. Lastly, through her style and structure she links the faithfulness of hope to that of God.