Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
by Barry Wright
Essay: Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
Pages: 10
Rating: 3 stars
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Poetry Research Paper
No matter how bad things may seem, there is always hope for things to ameliorate. When people believe that the
future will be promising, they can have something to look forward to as opposed to dwelling on the past or the
problems of the present. This hope can give a person a positive outlook on life and motivate him or her to look
past what is happening in the present. In the poems “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson and
“The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy, they both convey similar messages about hope. Both works display the
theme of hope being present at all times no matter how bad things may seem and is a consistent option for
anyone in need of help.
In “Hope is the Thing with Feathers,” the message delivered is that hope is present to any person. Dickinson writes,
“And sweetest in the gale is heard,” (5) which displays an image of a bird’s song being heard above the sounds of
the storm. This shows how even in the worst situations one can look forward to the future where all this persons
problems are resolved. Hope is the most beneficial when it is needed most. Therefore, it is available to anyone no
matter who they are or how they live. In this poem, the speaker says, “yet, never, in extremity, / it asked a crumb of
me” (11-12). If a person hopes for something, he or she doesn’t need to offer anything in return for what hope has
given them. By using a crumb as an example of how hope comes without any pay, it is shown that “hope” does
not need even the smallest possible reward for the good that it brings. It is a feeling and therefor, appeals to
everyone.
By using a bird as a symbol for hope, Dickinson conveys the message that hope is continuous in a way that is
easily understood b...