Introduction of the Poem “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”:
The poem entitled ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’ is the VI part of a much longer poem called ‘Life’. It is believed to have been written in 1861. It was initially published in the second collection of Dickinson’s work, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Second Series, in 1891.
In this poem, ‘Hope’ is an abstract word which means desire or trust. It is described metaphorically as having the characteristics of a ‘bird’, a tangible living creature. The word ‘bird’ is rich with connotation. Birds are often viewed as.free and self- reliant or as symbols of spirituality. The bird in this poem is courageous and persevering, for it continues to share its song under even the most difficult conditions. By describing ‘hope’ in terms of this bird, Dickinson creates a lovely image of the virtue of human desire.
The poem has connections to Dickinson’s life, and the time period when the poem was written. The poem presents the idea that the inside is safe and comfortable, but the outside world is unpredictable and dangerous. That idea is very similar to Dickinson’s life, she was afraid of the harsh world so instead she stayed inside and secluded. Even while she was discouraged by her social inabilities, she was able to find hope through writing her poetry. Considering the time period it is probable that Dickinson was very influenced by the transcendentalist movement.
Summary of the Poem:
According to the poetess, hope plays a vital role in the life of human being. She uses the image of a bird to depict the role of hope in the life of human being who is living a materialistic life in this physical world and is always surrounded with worries, sorrows and pains. Hope is compared to a feathered bird which has its permanent abode in the human soul. This bird of hope sings the songs of optimism continuously, though the songs have no words. Its incessant melody inspires in man a sense of optimism. In other words, it can be said that man is always clinging to hope. Man never ceases to hope.
The sweetest song of hope is heard in the gale of sorrows and misfortunes. The greater the troubles are, the sweeter the song of hope spring out. (The song of hope sounds the sweetest in the midst of gale of sorrows). When the storm of sorrows and misfortunes blows hard, the breeze of hope blows sweetly and gently. The bird of hope consoles and soothes the badly tortured hearts of human beings with its sweet song. Indeed hope provides great strength to human beings. It makes them enable to fight and face the heavy odds with great determination.
The storm that can prevent the bird of hope from singing must, indeed, be very fierce and must be a very tremendous storm of misfortune. In other words, the bird of hope can sing when it has to face the most adverse storm. The poetess has heard the song of hope in the remotest and the most unfamiliar places. (The poetess has heard the song of the bird of hope in moments of greatest distress not only in her own life, but in others’ lives as well). The bird of hope sings selflessly. It does not demand anything in return. it comforts all in the moments of crisis without expecting anything in return.
Stanza-wise Paraphrase:
STANZA 1:
Paraphrase:
The poetess compares hope with a little bird of feathers which sings veet song to console and soothe the tortured heart and mind of human being. Due to ing divine virtue, it is closely related to the soul of human being. Hope is born and has its abode in the human soul. It has its everlasting existence in the life of human being. It remains with man until he is alive. It has noting to do with conscious intellect. It owes its existence to intuitive perception. Sitting on the tree of soul of human being, it pours out its full heart and melody into the innermost recesses of human heart. This bird of hope goes on singing without any pause. Though the song of bird of hope has no words, it has great soothing power on human heart and mind. Hope always inspires and cheers human beings even they appear to have lost everything. It also encourages them to muster up their lost courage and strength.
STANZA 2:
Paraphrase:
The poetess tells us the great power of hope. The more the wind howls and the storm rages, the sweeter is the song of the bird of hope. When the storm of troubles and misfortunes blows hard, hope appears to human beings to be the most delightful in the world. In the moments of great despair, it is only hope that gives courage and strength to human beings. Its great soothing effect consoles them in the period of suffering and tribulation. The fierceful storm cannot suppress the sweet song of the bird of hope. The bird of hope stands firmly at the face of violent storm and keeps on singing. In other words, it can be said that even in the period of an intense grief, man is clinging to hope. Man considers hope a great support of his life.
STANZA 3:
Paraphrase:
The bird of hope sings the sweet songs of optimism even in the most remotest and the most unfamiliar places. The poetess has experienced a feeling of optimism everywhere. Indeed, Hope is a divine virtue and its presence can be felt everywhere. In other words, even in the bitterest circumstances, it illumines and inspires human heart. The immortal strain of the bird of hope cannot be silenced by the fears of the unknown and the strange. The bird of hope sings the sweet songs of optimism selflessly to comfort the distressed hearts of human beings. It provides a kind of enthusiasm, courage and strength to those who are badly surrounded with unexpected circumstances. But it does not ask for anything in return.
Critical Appreciation of the Poem “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”:
Introduction:
The poem entitled “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” is the sixth part of a much larger poem called ‘Life’. This poem is believed to have been written in 1861. It was initially published posthumously as the second collection of Dickinson’s work, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Second Series, in 1891. The poem examines the abstract idea of hope in the free spirit of a bird. In this poem, the poetess tells the importance of hope in human life. In this physical world, where human beings suffer from pains, mental anguish and sorrow, hope is the only source that consoles their hearts and minds. Hope also gives them strength to survive in this world for longer. The poetess compares hope to a bird which has its abode in the human soul.
Thought-content:
In the poem, the poetess uses the metaphor of a small bird to convey her point that hope stays alive within human beings despite all his troubles. Hope, like the bird singing a tune, does not necessarily speak to man in any conventional sense but is always present in him. Hope springs eternal and a permanent fixture of man’s being that allows him to conquer most of what life throws at him. Then the poetess tells about the power of hope. The more the wind howls and the storm rages, the sweeter is the bird’s song. She had a hard time imagining a storm so strong that it could overcome the power of the bird’s song, so she (the poetess) would argue that hope, which has kept so many people from despair, can overcome any suffering. Then the poetess says that the little bird, despite having to endure “the chilliest land” and “strangest sea”, has never asked for any payment. It seems that the poetess is simply reminding of hope’s inherent power-it is always there, requires no maintenance, and is strong enough to see us through our troubles.
Theme of the Poem:
The major theme of the poem is that in the human heart, hope endures, defeating despair despite overwhelming circumstances. Hope perches in our soul and is ever present. It prevails even when there is no cause or reason to be hopeful:
“And sings the tune without the words―
And never stops-at all—”
Dickinson emphasises that hope endures under the most difficult circumstances by extending her metaphor. She has heard the little bird’s song in the chilliest land and on the strangest sea. According to the poetess, even in times of greatest challenge hope sustains us, keeping us warm. She does not take the position that hope is beyond defeat, but she maintains that it would require the very worst kind of storm to abash the little bird.
Autobiographical Elements:
The poetess makes a subjective expression of her ideas. She shows that the song of the bird shall be an inspiration for her for nobility and spiritual uplift. She further says that she has been hearing the song of the little bird both in the coldest places and even in the most unfamiliar places at the sea-side. It is the melodious song of the bird which has inspired her with the feeling of optimism. Ultimately, the poetess shows the noble and divine character of the little bird. She also has the virtue of selflessness and self-respect. The little bird does not expect anything in return.
“I’ve heard it in the chilliest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb―of Me.”
The Use of Metaphorical Imagery:
In the poem, the poetess uses the metaphorical image of a bird to describe the abstract idea of hope. Hope, of course, is not an animate thing, it is inanimate, but by giving hope feathers, she begins to create an image of hope in our minds. The imagery of feathers conjures up hope in itself. Feathers represent hope because feathers enable to fly and offer the image of flying away to a new hope, a new beginning. In contrast, broken feathers or a broken wing grounds a person, and conjures up the image of a needy person who has been beaten down by life. In the second stanza, “That perches in the soul”, Dickinson continues to use the imagery of a bird to describe hope. Hope, she is implying, perches in our soul. The soul is the home for hope. It can also be seen as a metaphor. Hope rests in our soul the way a bird rests on its perch.
Form and Meter of the Poem:
The poem is a short and sweet lyric. It consists of only twelve lines divided in three stanzas of four lines each. Like almost all of Dickinson’s poems, ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’ takes the form of an iambic trimeter that often expands to include a fourth stress at the end of the line (as in “And sings the tune without the words “). Like almost all of her poems, it modifies and breaks up the rhythmic flow with long dashes indicating breaks and pauses (“And never stops-at all-“). The stanzas, as in most of Dickinson’s lyrics, rhyme loosely in an ABCB scheme, though in this poem there are some incidental carry over rhymes: “Words” in line three of the first stanza rhymes with “heard” and “Bird” in the second; “Extremity” rhymes with “Sea” and “Me” in the third stanza, thus, technically conforming to an ABBB rhyme scheme.
Style and Language:
This simple, metaphorical description of hope as a bird singing in the soul is another example of Dickinson’s homiletic style, derived from Psalms and religious hymns. Dickinson introduces her metaphor in the first two lines (“Hope is the thing with feathers— /That perches in the soul—”), then develops it throughout the poem by telling what the bird does (sing), how it reacts to hardship (it is unabashed in the storm), where it can be found (everywhere, from “chilliest land” to “strangest sea”), and what it asks for itself (nothing, not even a single crumb).
Though written after ‘Success is Counted Sweetest’, this is still an early poem for Dickinson, and neither her language nor her themes here are as complicated and explosive as they would become in her more mature work from the mid-1860s. Still, we find a few of the verbal shocks that so characterise Dickinson’s mature style: the use of “abash”, for instance, to describe the storm’s potential effect on the bird, wrenches the reader back to the reality behind the pretty metaphor; while a singing bird cannot exactly be “abashed” the word describes the effect of the storm-or a more general hardship-upon the speaker’s hopes.
Biblical Allusion:
This poem has a biblical allusion when it refers to the bird. Dickinson was raised in the transcendentalist era, and there was a lot of criticism oriented around the Bible. The allusion could be that Jesus was said to give bread to people of poverty. He then told them not to eat the bread without giving the crumbs to the bird. It is thought that this relates to the poem because man and nature was seen as one, while now they are considered to be vastly divided.
“It asked a crumb―of Me.”