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Emily Dickinson's Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

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Emily Dickinson left the world with great insight into the depth of the human soul through her poetry. She had an ability to make tangible that which is abstract, therefore giving form to human emotions, needs, and states of mind. In the poem, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”, Miss Dickinson transforms hope into something that is flesh and blood. The reclusive poet’s poem has deep symbolism and thought provoking themes that inspire many through the darkest of times. Through a close reading, one can truly acknowledge exactly how deep and meaningful this timeless poem is. No matter what the situation, this poem can be relevant to anyone and everyone who reads it. Miss Dickinson takes the concept of hope and gives it feathers, a song, and a perch. …show more content…

She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. She attended school up until her teenage years and later attended the Amherst Academy and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. She began her writing as a teenager with early influences such as Leonard Humphrey, the principal of Amherst Academy, and Benjamin Franklin Newton, a family friend. Connie Ann Kirk writes about Miss Dickinson in her biography, “She was the kind of studious person who kept a large dictionary by her side when she wrote and often poured over it” (Kirk 2). Emily Dickinson lived a large portion of her life in partial seclusion, taking care of her sickly mother. Though her reclusive lifestyle was attributed to her taking care of her mother, it is widely speculated that the poet dealt with mental ailments such as agoraphobia, depression, and anxiety. She rarely left her homestead, but coincidentally, during this time in the 1860s was when Miss Dickinson produced some of her best works of poetry. In her writings, Dickinson saw the mind and spirit as “tangible places where one can actually dwell” (Juhasz 130-140) . The poet never married, though she seemingly …show more content…

She certainly demonstrated the ability to “express a kind of ultimate in exquisite tenderness” (Haebeggar 3), The first person positive tone and meaningful symbolism leave the poem a favorite for deep readers over which to

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