“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.
This poem and many more of Emily’s can be found within the novel Teach Me by R.A. Nelson.
when i get down on myself and blue I read this poem. It is so beautifully written and portrays hope so perfectly.
I admire emily for this.
i love this poem, when i have a bad day isit in my room and read this over and over and it really brightens my spirits
I think that this poem really describes hope in a good way and that hope will never leave us, even when we think it has. We just have to believe.
i like this poem it made me think about my life and alot of shit that has happened in my life! and the people i knew and loved that died from suicide or cancer… and without reading this poem i don’t think i would be as hopeful as i am today
i interested when i read this poem because i learnd a very important message;it learnd me how to be strong,how to contuniue when i have problem.My teacher was very clever when she explained the poem.
i love this poem. It’s in my favorite poem book. I have repeated this many times to myself when my health or my family’s or situations are not good. It’s saved me from depression and despair. I am putting this on a card to accompany a figurine of Hope I’m sending to my sister who has recently been diagnosed with Cancer
How wrong Emily Dickinson was! Hope is not “the thing with feathers.” The thing with feathers has turned out to be my nephew. I must take him to a specialist in Zurich.
Woody Allen
Damn!!! I’m in a hopeless situation!!! Final exams in 5days!!!! Damn you dickinson!!!!! Should have started studying ages ago!!!!!!!!!!!
This poem is nothing short of amazing. We take hope for granted and it keeps us alive and going and she points out that it never asks anything from us.
I really like this poem. It gives me the will to go on when things get bad. I also read it when I need inspiration for a poem of my own. The poem Ms. Dickinson inspired is the following couplet:
Back and forth, the waves will go
Where the lead, I do not know
“’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” is my favorite Dickinson poem. When we studied her poetry my Junior year of high school, I chose this poem to memorize and it has stuck with me ever since. I love to make up analogies for experiences or feelings I or others have had. I frequently add examples to conversations I have with my friends. Consequently, her personification of hope as a bird really strikes a cord in my brain. I love the way she uses the experiences of a bird as something her audience could relate to. She uses wonderfully vibrant pictures to describe that ambiguous word of Hope.
For Dickinson, hope is an independent gift. It is delicate and fragile, yet strong and indominatble, a paradoxical quality that is reflected in the image
“and sore must be the storm-
That could abash the little Bird”
Antoinette:
The forward motin of the lines with Dickinson’s strange punctutation, also helps to suggest that this is a continuing state of mind, not just a temporary high point
“and never stops – at all -”
the underlying sadness as you call it is often seen more as a curiosity as she cannot understand hope and so must personify it as a bird to express her feelings of it.
The point of this peom is approaching hope as a symbol of fate. And can be within different people as well as shown in numberaus limitations. Pointing out the fact that hope, in one person can be much higher than another…
I have just begun studying Emily Dickinson for my Leaving Cert (the most soul destroying of Irish exams!) and I was slightly confused by this poem. Although the poets actual content seems positve, I can’t help feeling that there’s an underlying sadness. The way the last lines are punctuated, the discription of hope using a negative “never” and the use of the word “yet” lead me to believe this. My teacher obviously disagrees. Am I just wrong?
“Hope” is an angel…here to save us all from despair.
This poem has guided me through many troubled times. I have it memorized and posted on my wall at work. It’s great to see it in its original form here, Emily capitalized and punctuated her poetry in unconventional ways and in part, thereby conveyed her unconventional genius. This is the most beautiful and powerful definition of hope that I have ever seen.
I could have misunderstood the context of this poem, but I always associated it with my mother, who passed away from cancer 3 years ago.We even read this poem as part of her eulogy. It seemed to capture her spirit and the reasons she lived for…to help those around her be brave.
Our recent presidential candidate’s wife quoted this poem from her girlhood memories, on the TODAY Show on 11/21/04. She was visiting with Ms. Couric.
I really like this poem. It’s my favorite and I think that it’s really deep. Emily Dickinson must have had a intricate outlook on life to be able to write such a masterpiece.