Emily Dickinson Group
Question:
sweetcandy
Student
Community / Jr. College
What is the theme of "Hope is the Thing With Feathers"?
Answers:
-
mshurn Teacher
College - FreshmaneNotes Editor
Posted by mshurn on Friday March 13, 2009 at 3:09 PMThe major theme of the poem is that in the human heart, hope endures, defeating despair despite overwhelming circumstances. Hope "perches" in our soul, ever present. It prevails even when there is no cause or reason to be hopeful:
And sings the tune without the words--
And never stops--at all--
Dickinson emphasizes that hope endures under the most difficult circumstances by extending her metaphor. She has heard the little bird's song "in the chillest land" and "on the strangest Sea." Even in times of greatest challenge, according to Dickinson, hope sustains us, keeping us warm. She does not take the position that hope is beyond defeat, but she maintains that it would require the very worst kind of storm to "abash the little Bird."
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