Hope is the Thing with Feathers
About the author
Emily Elizabeth
Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was an American poet little known during her lifetime
she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American
poetry.
Notable works
(1) Because I could
not stop for Death
(2) Hope is the Thing with Feathers
(3) I’m nobody! Who
are you?
Dickinson was
born in Amherst U.S into a prominent family with strong ties to its community
after studying at the Amherst Academy for 7 years in her youth she briefly
attended the Mount Holyoke female seminary before returning to her family's
home in Amherst.
Introduction of the
Poem
“Hope is the
thing with Feathers” is a lyrical poem written as Ballad by American poet Emily
Dickinson it is one of the poem included in the Collections of Poems after
Dickinson’s death her sister Lavinia Dickinson published “Hope is the thing
with Feathers” in 1891 in the collection title “Poems”.
Emily Dickinson's
poetry may have been influenced by 18th century Hymn culture, she used to
attend Church regularly early in her life so Hymn was introduced to her during
childhood. Dickinson believes that “Simplicity of the Hymnal form allowed space
after Dickinson to make a satire.
Summary
Emily Dickinson
redefines Hope in this poem, she visualizes hope as a living thing not an
abstract entities. Hope is looked upon as a bird singing continuously in the
human soul, the feeling of Hope resides in men's mind that affects it directly
or indirectly.
Hope is Humanized
in this section of the poem as it is like a feathered bird singing continuously
in men's mind, the song of the bird seems a sweetest in a gale which stands for
the periods of crisis in one's life. It is a typical song which words are
absent moreover the song of the bird seems to have no end.
Dickinson
examines the origin of hope in men's life; the feeling of hope has it origin in
men's mind and conditions its behavior. The voice of the little bird can only
be silenced by the most violent storms. This means that only the toughest times
can have a dry impact on hope, it also activates men’s mind and adds to its
creative potential.
The song of
this bird soothes the mind in crisis however this melodious song prepares a
person to encounter the stress and strains of life. Only the most violent storms
can prevent the sweetest songs of this bird from being heard. It can be silenced
by natural fury only. It means that hope can be frustrated by the sorest misfortune.
The silencing of the voice of the bird would deny the pleasure of the sweetest
song which used to comfort many hearts in the past.
The
poet herself heard the song of the bird in the coldest region and on the
mysterious sea. She had not abandoned hope in the most difficult times in her
life. The bird loved Independence and never expected any food substance in any
challenging situation in its lifetime, this clearly shows that hope is self
sustaining and never except any favors from any external source including the
poetess.
The song of the
bird has blaming impact on the mind in a calamity. It can make a man forget the
ups and downs of the life. Any attempt to silence the song of the bird will
lead to the despair and frustration. It is the violence of the storm which can
extinguish hope in men's life.
The speaker found
no problem in identifying the place where he had heard this song, in the past
he had heard this song in Icy-cold region and on the mysterious seas. It stood
by him through thick and thin face many Odds in his in her life. The poet praises
the bird for selfless support to him in a fix. Strangely enough the bird has
never demanded only thing in return for helping him in difficult times. This
shows that man is selfish but the bird is selfless in interacting with human
beings.
Analysis
In the opening
of the poem adding more color and emphasis on the word “Hope” by using Iambic
pentameter throughout the poem to replicate the “Hope’s song through time”. Most
of the Dickinson's poetry Quatrains and runs in the Hymnal meter, which
maintains the rhythm of the alternating between four beats and three beats in
its stanza.
“Hope is the
thing with Feathers” is divided into three stanzas each set containing alternating
lines of Iambic Tri-meter and Iambic Tetrameter, despite Mr.Lin’s theorizing it
is not actually about a bird.
Dickinson's
poetry may have been influenced by 18 century Hymnal culture such as Isaac
Watts and female writers, these works were introduced two Dickinson when she
was attending Church regularly. She believes that a “Simplicity” of Hymnal form
allowed room for a Dickinson to make his “An easy target for Parody”.
This poem
creates the imagery of seafaring adventures with the use of word “Sea” and “Gale”.
Dickinson uses the metaphor of “Hope” being linked on to a bird that does not
disappear when we hardships of storm came. Dickinson enjoys “The stimulus of
teasing riddles, which the idea “Hope” being something that does not disappear
when the “Gale” and “Strom” get worse and its song still sings on despite so Whatever..
Dickinson also
mentions that, “No matter what the speaker of the poem is doing “Hope” does not
leave even if they offer nothing in return to it”.
In this poem
Dickinson describes “Hope” as a bird, which is being used as a metaphor for the
idea of Salvation. In total Dickinson has a 9 variations of the word “Hope”
which can be interpreted in multiple ways. Morgan whites that Dickinson often
one writes about birds when she is describing acts of worship, which coincides
with the format of Hymn.
Dickinson uses
many allusions to nature in her poems as birds in Christian iconography are
often represented as Dove within this poem she takes the image of the bird and
the violence of weathers to create a balance between the destructive and
beneficent. It is also a Juxtaposition of the interior world and exterior
world, with the soul considered interior and the storms that attempt to dismantle
hope being the exterior.
Due to riddle like nature of her poems as well as the
extensive use of Lexicon, “Hope is the thing with feathers can be interpreted
through multiple shades of meaning.
