Hope is the Thing with Feathers free essay sample

In the poem â€Å"Hope is the thing with feathers† by Emily Dickinson the contrast between the struggles, or darkness in life, and the hope that brings people through those struggles is the main focus. Hope is a feeling; it is a desire that drives people through even the most nightmarish situations. It is the expectation that everything will be okay, to trust there is a possibility for a brighter outcome. Having hope is to dream and have the courage to believe this outcome is possible. Hope is the faith in powers beyond one’s control. Without hope people would simply give up when faced with struggle. Dickinson awes at hope and what it can do. In the poem hope is shown as an animate thing, a bird. The imagery of hope being a bird with feathers gives the reader an image that hope can take flight (Pottebaum). This flight can take or lift a person from the burdens they face in life (Pottebaum). We will write a custom essay sample on Hope is the Thing with Feathers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The world or people are projected as the soul, both as collective and as individual (Brantley). These simplistic metaphors bring this short but direct tone to a meaningful message that hope lives and abides in all of us. In later years Emily Dickinson lived a somewhat isolated existence in regards to the outside world, her immediate family were those she interacted with most (Kirk). On researching about her life, she was born in 1830. She was formally educated for the time period, even attending Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847. (Kirk) During her youth she seemed to have much more social interaction, but as deaths of friends and relatives began to happen, she became more reclusive (Kirk). By the 1860s, she very rarely left Amrherst , her family home (Kirk). Miss Dickinson never married and it was suggested that she may have experienced unrequited love (Kirk). This could suggest that these events of loss and isolation helped contribute to the imagery she would later use in her writings. It is the pain and loss of those we love that strikes the deepest. In giving these emotions the attributes of storms â€Å"that could abash the little bird† (7) Miss Dickinson paints an image of our lives as we face events that we cannot control. Hope is given feathers that can touch our souls and bring us out of our despair with its sweet song (Pottebaum). It also brings forth the image that hope is a delicate thing that can still sing, even during the fiercest of events (Brantley). It dwells in each of us, and this is projected in the most direct way by simply stating† that perches in the soul† (2). This statement speaks to everyman that hope resides inside the soul; but one must listen for its song. It is for this reason that I have been drawn to this poem. All of us face events and challenges that can seem overwhelming, but with hope we find a way to endure. As Miss Dickinson states we must listen and embrace this hope. Hope is in everyone, and is the light that drives people out of the darkness. It is â€Å"sweetest in the gale is heard† (5), this is saying that hope is contagious. Once it is â€Å"heard† it can be passed from one person to another. Dickinson portrays hope as a burning desire to make it through the â€Å"storm† (6). This melody of hope can carry us through difficult times without asking for a crumb. She explores the selflessness of hope. When it is not needed it waits within one. It never leaves; hope is always there to shine through the dark when one decides it is time to call upon it. Hope never asks for anything in return, â€Å"Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. † (11-12). Dickinson is saying that hope is the light in one’s soul; it is the good in us (Brantley). I believe this image is an encouragement to live life knowing that hope is there in the soul asking for nothing but the opportunity to sing. The description of the† chilliest lands and strangest seas† (9-10), brings forth both an interruption of the possibility of loss or as a prompt to encourage us to engage life. I see these simple words as both negative and positive. Dickinson accomplishes this theme with the use of voice. She uses short, yet powerful words to create a tone of simplicity. She intends these words to strike, to hit home. Dickinson wants these words to create an emotional experience. She wants the reader to remember all the times that hope was there for them, guided them, and helped them cross to the other side of the storm. Her wording is informal; this creates a sense of familiarity between the reader and the thing of hope (Brantley). Her tone is humbled and appreciative; she speaks as if she owes the little bird of hope a great deal. She refers to hope sweetly as if reminiscing about a fond memory. Yet, hope is not a thing that comes out in times of happiness; it appears in times of despair. It is a friend, a guiding light, or to Dickinson a little bird (Pottebaum). Whenever she has needed it, her friend has appeared for her and this she is grateful. On a simplistic view, â€Å"chilliest land† (9) can seem cold and harsh, but if you never venture and explore do you truly live? The words strangest sea could be both literal and emotional; Miss Dickinson could be exploring love or moving away from the comforts of family (Brantley). It is compelling that such simple, concise words can hold such meaning when comparing to her life or ours. These universal concepts engage us to look at our own lives and view ourselves in more simple terms. Life can be full of tribulations, it is these times we must look for the warmth and bear the sore of the storm. Miss Dickinson brings to her readers’ visual concepts in the form of the feathers implying that hope is a bird. The audible suggestion is presented in the form of the hearing and listening for the song of hope. She also in her own concise way brings in the physical feeling of cold and unfamiliar in her descriptions in the â€Å"chillest lands and strangest seas† (9-10). This writing could be read quickly and dismissed so easily if one did not take time to exam with depth and feeling, these simple words imply. These thoughts are so concise, yet universal. We all will face pain and loss at some time during our lives. It is from within ourselves, that we draw hope and strength to persevere. This image which presents hope as a feathered bird, the most fragile of things; yet it survives the storms life brings this suggests unsaid we can, also. This depth of thought can be brought forth by reading and contemplating the words carefully with introspection of one’s own challenges. Pain, loss and hope are universal; despair comes to those who stop listening for the song of hope. Hope is there but we must be open to it. Miss Dickinson was a prolific writer (Brantley). Following her death in 1886, her family found approximately 1800 poems she had placed in volumes she had carefully, and I believe, loving assembled her handwritten writings she had devoted her life to her poetry (Kirk). It is an amazing testament of her views, as shown so simply in this work, of the complicated emotions one faces in life. Dickinson chose to write this poem in a way that made you think about life. She used simplistic words that held deeper meaning with the underlying metaphors between human nature, hope, and a bird itself. Life is much this way, things seem clear on the surface but as you reach the root of things one realizes that life is much more complex. In life we face many struggles and hope is there to remind us that things will get better; it guides us much like a bird might guide a ship back to land.