Today, Dickinson is one of the most appreciated American poets. Very few of Dickinson’s poems were published when she was alive, and the depth of her poetry was not known until her family discovered her collection of poems after her death. This seclusion also influenced her poetic voice – her poetry sings of the possibility of dreams not yet realized. Her garden was one of her greatest passions and appeared often in her writing.

Because the world she inhabited was small, her subject matter was limited but focused. She lived a quiet, secluded life and suffered occasionally from bouts of depression. “’Hope’ is the thing with feathers” simply and eloquently acknowledges the enduring human capability for hope.Įmily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although she spent much of her life in seclusion and her experiences were limited, she was a dreamer and many of her poems glowed with promise and possibility. The tone of this poem is quite characteristic of Dickinson. Dickinson contrasts the “chill,” “strange” possibilities of the world we all face with the sweetness and warmth of the little bird. The picture of a tiny bird against gargantuan storms and gales reminds the reader of the immense power that even the smallest fragment of hope can hold, no matter how deep in the soul it is buried. The poem sings of the robust, enduring nature of hope.

The language of the first two lines suggests the weightlessness that hope brings with it: the upward motion of the wind ruffling through feathers the lightness of a tiny bird on its perch, ready at a moment’s notice to flutter away. Without ever actually using the word “bird” but once, Dickinson likens hope itself to a creature of flight. “Hope is the Thing with feathers” was first published in 1891.

Hope is the thing with feathers poem