This very simple poem has stood the test of time. Emily Dickinson uses metaphor and imagery very well in transforming the abstract idea of hope (inanimate) into an animate object -- a bird.
This allows the reader to immediately conjure up an image of hope -- allowing the reader to now address hope - directly - and by doing so,
somehow place hope into context as to how it might play a role in their own lives.
Dickinson was a devout, conservative christian woman. No doubt the poem was inspired by biblical
readings and interpretations.
This poem has served as inspiration for so many people -
when times are tough, and it seems as though things aren't going your way,
never lose hope.
Well done! Aspiring
poets, remember the important tool of metaphor and imagery - sometimes they can
help to get your message or the intent of the feeling across to the reader
quite effectively.
Enjoy this masterpiece!
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.
