"'Hope' is a 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.
Discussion Questions:
1. What poetic devices do you find in this poem?
2. What is Dickinson saying about the nature of hope?
1. Metaphors - describing hope as a bird is a metaphor. I guess that's also personification? I think there's enjambment too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the metaphor. I'm not sure about personification, because she is giving hope the characteristics of a bird, she isn't giving it the characteristics of a person. Hmm. Animalification?
Delete2. She's saying that 'hope never stops singing', or that there's always hope, no matter what's happening, and that it would be very, very hard to make the bird stop. Also that hope 'keeps you warm' but never asks anything in return.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's such a nice way of explaining how hope is important and yet costs nothing.
Delete1. A bunch of metaphors, "chillest land and on the strangest sea" are metaphors for times in someone's life. Also personification of hope, saying that hope is a bird. There's a narrator, and enjambment too!
ReplyDeleteNice! I like that you picked up on those metaphors for hard times in life.
Delete2. That hope comes when times are hardest, and that things have to be REALLY bad to extinguish it. She's also saying that "the bird", hope, doesn't require anything from you. If life is tough, but you hope for better times, having that hope doesn't require anything from you in the moment, and never will require anything from you after. It's free, once you begin, hoping is as easy as blinking. You don't even think about it. It 'never asks a crumb' of you.
ReplyDeleteYes -- hope is both vitally important and costs nothing at all. Priceless because you don't have to pay anything for it.
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