Hope Is The Thing With Feathers By Emily Dickinson

Hope. It is what is left when we have nothing else to hold on to and are faced with hardships and challenges. We can only hope that hope is there for us and will guide us to our next step. It provides us with comfort when our life is void and has lost meaning. We have all experienced at least one moment, whether it be in the midst of a board game or being abandoned and all alone, where all we could do was hope that we would be okay even after giving up. Often times when we’ve been strong for too long, we weaken and cave in. For this reason, Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” emphasizes the idea that hope never gives up on us and is present even when we are close to disappearing. As a result, this poem stresses the persistence …show more content…
On a literal note, Dickinson uses the example of the bird to signify hope and how it “perches in the soul” (2), meaning that the bird is always with us in our hearts. She further explains, “I heard it in the chillest land/ And on the strangest Sea,” (9,10), which demonstrates of even when the bird of hope ventured into coldness and darkness, it continued to sing and persevere through the storm of hatred and loss. Metaphorically speaking, Dickinson describes the different forces of nature that attempt to penetrate and eliminate the little bird of hope. She writes, “And sore must be the storm-/ That could abash the little Bird” (6,7). The “sore” translate to the troubles and hardships humans face and how in certain dark times, we turn away from hope, allowing it to become devoured by our anguish. However, there is always a remaining ember from the fire of hope “that kept so many warm” (8). This everlasting ember is like the bird of hope in a sense that the bird never halts its singing or completely disappears from our line of sight. Further, this newly discovered hope brings a feeling of comfort and protection when we seek it and find it, just like how fire brings warmth and comfort. All in all, the author succeeds in revealing that hope is not something that can be destroyed, but something that is everlasting and glowing even if we do not hear it or see

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Hope Is The Thing With Feathers By Emily Dickinson