Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson

It also mentioned that the vagueness and “music that marked the first efforts” (Duchac), are reminiscent of poems written before. She doesn’t specify what this “it” means but, in the context of the poem it could be “hope.” The poem ends by saying that the “it” doesn’t ask anything of her.Ī nineteenth-century article from the Tribune mentions that compared to other poems she has written, “Hope” shows the illusory nature of the spirit. She ends the poem by stating an “it” that doesn’t ask a thing of her.

Another interesting piece of the poem comes in the last stanza where Dickinson describes hope is there even in the worst conditions. However, she does use terms such as “feathers, perches, and sings,” which suggests that Dickinson is talking about a bird. While she uses the words “little bird” this is a reference to a storm hurting a bird. Even though hope is compared to something that has feathers, Dickinson doesn’t specifically say that it’s a bird. Hope is not something that must be voiced to have meaning. She notes that hope is a feeling that “perches” on the soul and is always there. The poem uses a bird as a metaphor for hope. What is known of the lost manuscript is that it was sent to her cousins Louise and Francis Norcross around 1862. The surviving manuscript can be found at the Emily Dickinson Archives. Only two manuscripts were written, however, and one has been lost.

Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson