Eden Smith Literature Part 2 March 19, 2018 “Hope” is the thing with feathers- In the poem “Hope” is the thing with feathers” written by Emily Dickinson the reader is given a sense of happiness and sadness. The reader may feel happy for the hope they have for their future and what they can accomplish. At the same time the reader may feel sadness for where they are in their life and the struggles they are facing. Overall, the reader may experience dark times but hope offers a light at the end of the tunnel. Throughout this poem, Emily Dickinson uses different metaphors about a bird to teach people how to find hope. She uses the birds’ feathers, the birds’ crumbs, and the bird’s perch to symbolize hope in people’s lives. In “Hope is a thing with feathers,” Emily Dickinson uses feathers as a metaphor for comparing hope to a bird. Feathers are found on the wings of a bird, and they help them to fly. The feathers in the poem can represent hope because the bird uses them to fly away to new places where things may be better. They can find new hope in a different place. The feathers on the wings give that bird hope and without the feathers the bird would be stuck in the same place with no way out. It would have no hope for something better. A bird without wings is like a person without hope. The person feels like there is no way out. …show more content…
“That perches in the soul- and sings the tune without the words- and never stops- at all.” A birdcage is a place where a bird finds rest after a long flight or a busy day. They fly to the cage to perch and rest. Safety, comfort, and happiness can be found by the bird in the cage. Just like the bird found a home in the birdcage we have a home for hope inside of us. Hope brings us a feeling of safety, comfort, and happiness as the bird feels on his perch inside the
In the Emily Dickinson’s “hope” is the thing with feathers”. She describes the concept of hope to a feathered bird that constantly is in the heart of every human. She says that hope is something that never stop to grow in human not matter what is going on. She talks about how to react to hardship as human beings. Also she describes the storms of potential effects on the bird. She says that “hope” is a constantly grow that we create after or during hardship.
Everyone has experienced a dark path in life, when accepting defeat and giving up seemed like the only option. Feeling desperate and defeated; learning that hope means finding that little bit of light in all the darkness. Throughout history, hummingbirds represent the symbolic meaning behind hope. Due to the small features of the birds, hummingbirds represent hardships or challenges plagued by negativity. Teaching one to come out with a positive outlook and optimism. In the poem, Hummingbirds, by Mary Oliver, the author uses the image of Hummingbirds to portray a symbol of hope in a time of obscurity.
If a bird represents hope, a broken winged bird represents the losing of hope. The imagery suggests that life is hopeless if dreams are lost forever. Also, Hughes’s use of a metaphor suggests that life is painful and restricted without dreams like that of a broken winged bird who is defenseless and vulnerable. The broken winged bird is linked directly to when a dream is lost forever, which again suggests the melancholic mood. (2) Perhaps, the broken winged bird is the consequence of losing the dream (3). This idea is continued when the use of personification points out that by losing hope, a person will not be able to fly (line 4). In essence, Hughes points that the dream will never shape if a person does not continue to chase the dream. The continuation of the metaphor stresses the loss conveyed in line 2 and how personal will is taken away when one can’t “fly.” Hughes purposely uses end rhyme such as in “fly (4)” being rhymed with “die. (2)” This serves to emphasize the effect of the conditional and the
As mentioned earlier, the bird sings because it wants to ask for help to be free. Furthermore, the bird sings as a prayer to be sent to heaven, thinking that maybe, someone might hear its plea. One may think that the author is making an effort here for the readers to recognize that this is how people with no freedom cope for the sufferings they are going through, just like the bird does when it is inside the cage. For instance, when a person is in so much pain, may it be physically or emotionally, they tend to cope with it by praying deeply and asking sincerely for miracle that hopefully, the sufferings end soon. Moreover, this is might be the only way for the person to find peace in his or her heart regardless of how much pain he or she is suffering from. Additionally, this might also be the way in order to gain strength to keep fighting for the freedom that a person has been dreaming to
Although the poem is still relevant today to anyone because the underlying meaning is about working towards a goal and having a positive perception of the pathway needed to succeed. Hughes poem is about the importance of dreams and their ability to inspire, empower and strengthen an individuals life. Throughout the poem Hughes urges the reader to "hold fast to dreams" because life without dreams is like a "broken winged bird that cannot fly". This metaphor emphasizes to the reader a literal and metaphorically meaning. Literally, a bird that cannot fly does not have much to aspire to in his life, as a birds lifestyle revolves around flying. Although metaphorically this creates an image of death and despair, by relating the idea of having no dreams to a meaningless life. "What is our meaning/purpose in life if we have no goals to aspire to? "This metaphor along with the comparison of a dreamless life to a "barren field frozen with snow" portrays to the reader that if you don’t passionately follow your dreams, aspirations and beliefs then how are you ever supposed to get your life off the
In Emily Dickinson’s poem, hope is introduced as an abstract idea in the free spirit of a bird. The bird crafts a continuous tune even when there are no words to sing. Then, an intense storm arises and creates opposition for the bird; however, even in the worst of times, it still sings beautifully. This scene conjures up images of a bird’s song, whistling above the sound of gale force winds and offering the promise that soon the storm will end. And though the speaker has felt the warmth of hope in the coldest of times and in the strangest of circumstances, the bird never asked for anything in return, serving the speaker selflessly. Hope, of course, is not an animate thing; it is inanimate, but the metaphor of the bird singing through the storm creates an image of hope is created in the readers’ minds. The inherent power of hope is reminded – it is always there, requires no maintenance, and is strong enough to see one through their troubles.
the poem. On a literal way the poem is describing how a bird tries to escape from a
where it sings wordlessly and without any sudden pause. The song that hope sings sounds sweet “the gale” and it would require something terrifying to “abash the little bird, that's kept so many warm.” The speaker says that no matter how extreme the conditions such as “ in the chillest land, and on the strangest sea.” He never asked for a single crumb from her. when reading this poem I found it extremely entertaining with the fact of trying to figure out what ‘Hope” was representing, as I read the poem I found that “hope” as she said was a “thing with feathers” which made me think of a bird and throughout the poem I figured that the bird had to be the hope that she holds in her
Everyday birds sing their joyous songs, spreading their happiness as they fly free around the world. Birds are always there, singing their songs during the good and bad times. There is never a moment when a bird is not singing it's joyfulness tunes. Birds are there to help make the world a happier and better place and in the end, they asked nothing in return. Birds don’t sing their songs because they want something in return, they sing their songs because it brings a light to the world. This all relates back to hope. Hope doesn’t ask for anything in return, it's just there to shine a light in our lives. Hope never asks any questions instead, it will stay strong during the rough times. Hope has been around since the beginning of time and it isn’t going anywhere. Instead, it will stay forever in our souls and never ask for anything in return. No questions asked, no favors in return, hope is just there to bring a light to the
The poem opens with the line “Hope is the thing with feather. “ In this line, persona associated hope and bird and made a metaphor. Then it follows like this, “That perches in the soul/ And sings the tune without words/ And never stops-at all.” In these lines, persona thinks that hope is like a singing bird, even though sometimes it doesn’t speak to us, eternally it will stay permanent in us.
The bird and hope are both portrayed as heroic. In the final stanza, the speaker reflects on her personal experience with hope. She describes this gift as being selfless and supportive. Regardless of the situation or conditions, hope always
The main significance of this is the bird is giving the message that humans need to stop focusing so much on their thoughts and should rely more on only their immediate five senses. The chirping of the bird can simply be interpreted as chirping, as the author states, but instead we look for something that it could mean and complicate the simplicity of it. In this poem, “they” is constantly referred to, although it is never stated who “they” is. This could stand for the need to turn to nature instead of looking for something that isn’t there.
This is why the symbol of the bird is so important throughout the novel. Birds have the capability to go wherever they want, whenever they please, yet they often don’t use these benefits. This is because moving on to something new or experiencing a new challenge is not always easy and although it might not be what is best for a person it is often easiest to just stay in the same spot and accept the cards that have been dealt. “A bird with a broken wing
In “Hope is the thing with feathers” the author characterizes hope as being caring and always being there when it's needed, which helps develop the theme of hope and perseverance. The following line, “And never stops at all”, helps characterize the bird in the poem as persevering. This piece of evidence shows that hope will always be there which characterization of caring. The line “That perches in soul”, gives the characterization of perseverance. This line is portraying the idea of hope always being with you, hence the line perching within you, or in your soul. The line “And sour must be the storm that could abash the little bird” characterizes hope as persevering. The line illustrates the bird as always being there even when times are tough. Even when one might think that there is no hope, hope will always be there. The quote “Yet never in extremity it asked a crumb-of me” characterize hope as being giving.The line shows how hope will never ask for anything in return and instead gives without expecting anything in return.
A bird is a symbol that presents for Mrs. Wright and her a spirit. The author describes a bird and Mrs. Wright have the same condition. As a bird can fly and sing to anywhere they want, they have freedom without being stopped by anyone. Before marriage, Mrs. Wright used to be a singer; she was one of a popular girl in the choir. She has freedom, wore beautiful clothing and she can sing anytime without stopped by anyone. “She – she was kind of like a bird herself - real sweet and pretty, but timid and – fluttery” (Glaspell1114). However, after Mrs. Wright married,