thesis on emily dickinson

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The Oxford Handbook of Emily Dickinson

Karen Sánchez-Eppler is L. Stanton Williams 1941 Professor of American Studies and English at Amherst College and serves on the boards of the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation and of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Her first book, Touching Liberty: Abolition, Feminism and the Politics of the Body (1993), included work on Dickinson. Dependent States: The Child’s Part in Nineteenth-Century American Culture (2005) initiated her turn to childhood studies. She is one of the founding coeditors of The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth and past president of C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists.

Cristanne Miller is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Edward H. Butler Professor at the University at Buffalo SUNY. She has published broadly on nineteenth- and twentieth-century poetry. Her books on Dickinson include Emily Dickinson: A Poet’s Grammar (1987), Reading in Time: Emily Dickinson in the Nineteenth Century (2012), and the edition Emily Dickinson’s Poems: As She Preserved Them (2016), winner of the Modern Language Association’s Best Scholarly Edition Prize. She serves on the editorial advisory board for the Emily Dickinson Archive and is currently coediting a new complete letters of Emily Dickinson with Domhnall Mitchell. Among other work on modernist poetry, Miller is founder and director of the Marianne Moore Digital Archive .

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The Oxford Handbook of Emily Dickinson is designed to engage, inform, interest, and delight students and scholars of Emily Dickinson, of nineteenth-century US literature and cultural studies, of American poetry, and of the lyric. It also aims to establish potential agendas for future work in the field of Dickinson studies. This is the first essay collection on Dickinson to foreground the material and social culture of her time while opening new windows to interpretive possibility in ours. The collection strives to balance Dickinson’s own center of gravity in the material culture and historical context of nineteenth-century Amherst with the significance of important critical conversations of our present, thus understanding her poetry with the broadest “Latitude of Home”—as she puts it in her poem “Forever – is composed of Nows –”. Debates about the lyric, about Dickinson’s manuscripts and practices of composition, about the viability of translation across language, media, and culture, and about the politics of class, gender, place, and race circulate through this volume. These debates matter to our moment but also to our understanding of hers. Although rooted in the evolving history of Dickinson criticism, the essays in this handbook foreground truly new original research and a wide range of innovative critical methodologies, including artistic responses to her poetry by musicians, visual artists, and other poets. The suppleness and daring of Dickinson’s thought and uses of language remain open to new possibilities and meanings, even while they are grounded in contexts from over 150 years ago, and this collection seeks to express and celebrate the breadth of her accomplishments and relevance.

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Emily Dickinson and Nature

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Description

The purpose of this thesis is to show upon what aspects of nature Emily Dickinson's poems touch, to what extent and in what manner she uses nature terms in expressing her philosophy of life, what ideas she expresses through these terms, and finally what her own philosophy of nature is.

Physical Description

v, 134 leaves

Creation Information

Robyn, Dorothy Jean 1945.

This thesis is part of the collection entitled: UNT Theses and Dissertations and was provided by the UNT Libraries to the UNT Digital Library , a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries . It has been viewed 3135 times, with 11 in the last month. More information about this thesis can be viewed below.

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• Robyn, Dorothy Jean
• Stovall, Floyd, 1896-1991 Major Professor

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• Dannelley, Henry Minor Professor
• North Texas State Teachers College Place of Publication: Denton, Texas

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Degree Information

• Level: Master's
• Grantor: North Texas State Teachers College
• Name: Master of Arts
• Department: Department of English
• Discipline: English
• Emily Dickinson

Library of Congress Subject Headings

• Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886 -- Criticism and interpretation.
• Nature in literature.
• Thesis or Dissertation

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• Call Number : 379 N81 no.831
• Accession or Local Control No : n_00831
• UNT Catalog No. : b1366921 | View in Discover
• Archival Resource Key : ark:/67531/metadc70356

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• Jan. 13, 2012, 11:33 a.m.

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• Oct. 24, 2012, 10:05 a.m.

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Robyn, Dorothy Jean. Emily Dickinson and Nature , thesis , 1945; Denton, Texas . ( https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc70356/ : accessed April 8, 2024 ), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu ; .

Emily Dickinson and Death as a Theme in Her Poetry Research Paper

Emily Dickinson’s poetry contains sensibility with its awareness of mortality and the attendant anxiety. Using the phrases, narratives, and images of death, she forged ambiguity of experience from moment to moment (Roberts and Jacobs 1110). By scrutinizing her emotions in all their contrariness, Using unique themes in Because I could not stop for Death , I heard a fly buzz- when I died , and I died for beauty , Emily Dickinson expresses her inner strength in a peculiar way which has a deep impact on reader’s perception. Dickenson portrays that a soul is not alone in the beyond, and when it crosses this line, it can witness the power of reality. Using the theme of death, the author says that she has to cut her connections with the world and anticipates death. Thesis The theme of death dominates in the poems selected for analysis and unveils true feelings and life perception of Emily Dickenson.

Three poems describe inner state of a person through themes of grief and sadness. A self and human soul is shown to be a perpetual observance of rites in which nothing much happens, but everything has meaning and value (Budick, p. 62). It is possible to say that Because I could not stop for Death depicts the beginning stage of the developing mind, I heard a fly buzz can be seen as a continuation of this process, and I died for beauty – but was scarce is a result of this thinking (death). Overwhelmed by fear and panic, she repeatedly falls into a psychic abyss, but she learns from these encounters with the depths of herself to discern a pattern of relationships in what threatens to be unbounded despair. For instance, “The eyes beside had wrung them dry,/ And breaths were gathering sure / For that last onset, when the king / Be witnessed in his power”. Her initial forays enable her to map points of consciousness, specific emotions, or states of mind, and after years of experience and careful observation, she recognizes interconnections (Brantley, p. 43).

Because I could not stop for Death, a lyrical and flowing poem, expresses Emily Dickinson’s intense sorrow and deepening awareness of her mortality. There is no attempt to diminish the intensity of the pain with false promises of reunion in an afterlife. Again, her sorrow is acute: “Because I could not stop for Death, ‘ / He kindly stopped for me; / The carriage held but just ourselves/ And Immortality” (Dickinson). Thus, Emily Dickinson gives readers freedom of choice to interpret the poems and diversity of their meanings. Stillness supports the theme of death and internal existence that is always connected with quietness. The poems depict that our life is temporary, in contrast to eternal soul and its eternal existence (Brantley, p. 23). The word “blue“ in I heard a fly buzz emphasizes mystery and the significance of the very moment of death, “between the lights and me”. The next line shows that strength of the hero is failing and she insensibly is going away, and like “the window failed” consciousness sank from her (Martin, p. 32). The use of a rhetorical question “what portion of me be assignable” shows uncertainty and fear of the hero before the unknown world. The last line returns readers to reality underlining, through the symbol of the fly, that death is inevitable (Brantley, p. 43). The war between God and Satan is transmuted into opposing forces of life and death. Her commitment to unfolding experience explains why her grief and despair threaten to overwhelm her at times; she had no assurance that these emotions would end (Brantley, p. 44).

I died for beauty is t he most intense and emotionally saturated poem. In this poem, Dickinson’s comprehensive vision, her commitment to circumference, or the entire range as well as the outer edge of experience, permits her to accept life in its many aspects, despair and hope, tears and laughter. Dickinson creates a feeling of uncertainty and ambiguity. “Gazing grain” in Because I could not stop for Death symbolizes omnipresent power of the next world. It means that she is ready to die. In this poem, Emily Dickinson respectfully acknowledged the complex and mysterious connection of life and death. She reiterated her belief that to accept the connection between life and death is to grow as a person; to deny it is to bury a part of oneself in repression and denial (Budick, p. 28). Dickinson creates a vision in which consciousness replaces the soul, ecstasy parallels grace, human love replaces God’s sanctification, and friends form the community of saints; nature is paradise, home is heaven, language is sacramental, and experience crystallized in art creates the possibility of eternal life (Brantley, p. 43).

In sum, Dickinson’s excavations of the psyche disclose emotional patterns as complex as Puritan conversion with its requisite phases of sanctification, justification, and grace. Learning the complex interrelationships of her feelings was a lifelong task. Death is connected with tears that unveil emotional experience and sorrow, Feelings and experience have the great influence on the plot and message of the poems. The theme of death and spirituality creates strong emotional appeal to imagination and represents eternal existence.

Works Cited

• Brantley, R.E. Experience and Faith: The Late-Romantic Imagination of Emily Dickinson. New York: Palgrave, 2004
• Budick, E.M. Emily Dickinson and the Life of Language: A Study in Symbolic Poetics. Louisiana State Univ Pr, 1986.
• Emily Dickinson. Roberts, E.V., Jacobs, H.E. Literature: An introduction to Reading and Writing . Eight Edition. Prentice Hall, 2003, pp. 1106-1123.
• Martin, W. The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson . Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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Bibliography

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Home / Poetry / Emily Dickinson / Emily Dickinson Poetry Characteristics | Writing Style and Themes

Emily Dickinson Poetry Characteristics | Writing Style and Themes

Table of contents

Characteristics of emily dickinson poetry, unconventional themes, varied moods, shortness and conciseness, untitled poems, individualism and transcendentalism as characteristics of emily dickinson poetry, unbiased opinions, mysticism and spiritualism as characteristics of emily dickinson poetry, unique writing style and distinctive technique as characteristics of emily dickinson poetry.

Dickinson, also known as Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet best known for themes, writing style and bold characteristics in her poetry. She was born on December 10, 1830 and died on May 15, 1886. In her lifetime, she wrote many wonderful poems with divergent themes and unconventional writing style. Almost every poem of this great American poet has been read all over the world and criticized by students of literature.

Certain Characteristics of Emily Dickinson poetry are:

• Unconventional themes
• Individualism and Transcendentalism
• Mysticism and Spiritualism
• Unique Writing Style
• Distinctive Techniques

Some famous poems with these characteristics are:

• Because I could not Stop for Death
• Hope is the Thing with Feathers
• I Heard a Fly Buzz when I Died
• Wild Nights — Wild Nights

Every poet writes as per his desire and affection. He likes to describe things which he loves. Similarly, Emily Dickinson also likes to write poems on such topics which fascinates her. She has an expressive style of writing poetry, in which she covers bundles of themes. Humanity has not been changed since the creation of mankind. Even the Greek literature that was written thousands of years ago appeals to the readers till date; therefore, literature always has universal appeal. She writes poems in which she covers different subject matters. Needless to mention that she does not write poetry for the sake of poetry but to explore social, political and domestic problems in her poems.

Most of the poems that she wrote contain some common themes; some of them are “innersole exploration”, “death”, “despair”, “sex”, “affection”, “self-identity” etc. In “ Because I could not Stop for Death ” and “ I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died “, she portrays themes of immortality and death whereas “ Hope is the thing with Feathers” is poem that contains hope as its major theme. In addition, the poem “Wild Nights — Wild Nights” deals with the theme of sex.

Nonetheless, she never repeats the main idea of his poems. Every time she writes a poem, she writes it with a new thematic concept and discusses everything anew, hence, there is freshness in her poems due to which each poem appeals to the readers.

It is also noteworthy that she depicts unconventional themes as evident from naked analysis of her poems. In “Because I could not stop for Death”, she portrays death as a friend. Instead of sketching a horror picture of death, she very beautifully explains it as a certain reality that everyone has to face one day. Accordingly, use of unconventional themes and wide variety of themes are two major characteristics of Emily Dickinson poetry.

It should be noted that she changes her mood with every new poem she writes. If she focuses on themes of death, despair and pessimism then her tone becomes didactic whereas in the remaining poems her mood remains humorous.

She does not go beyond the topic that she discusses in her poem due to none of her poems is so long. She does not add any extra useless words in her poems. When she talks about social problems, usually a single speaker talks about the issues. He expresses his opinions on the matter and readers understand the whole situation. For instance, in her poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” she uses the first person but that does not mean she talks about herself.

Many poets support the idea of not giving title to their poems. It is the case with her poems. It is also one of the noticeable characteristics of Emily Dickinson poetry that she writes untitled poems and as a rule of thumb the first line of each poem becomes the title of the poem, hence, every titleless poem she has written was published with the first line as its title.

American poetry is rarely romantic. In fact, every American poet talks about individualistic problems. Sylvia Plath is one of the major poets who wrote poems with the themes of self identity. Emily Dickenson poems are also based on these types of unique themes. She also deals with the themes of isolation. Her poetry is thus the poetry of analytical reasoning. Her power of imagination helps her in this regard. She imagines such a situation which hardly anyone imagined in his life due to which she grabs the interest of her readers.

She is among those persons who understands life relationships; Emily Dickinson does not take any idea as a religious belief, hence, transcendentalism and realism are also two important characteristics of her poetry.

There was a time when the primary purpose of poets was to show the relationship between humans and gods. Subsequently, the poets started writing poetry in which they portrayed the influence of society on one’s life. Emily Dickenson’s poetry lacks such traditional themes. She talks about her own problems. She likes to write about her personal problems but that does not mean her poetry is only for herself. There is a kind of universality in her poems as her problems are the problems of almost every person.

It is also worth mentioning that she does not write for a specific caste, group or nation. In fact, she was highly criticized for not being patriotic at all. She does not even write a single poem, in which she shows herself as a patriotic soul. So, it is safe to say that her poetry is totally impartial.

Among other important characteristics, a major attribute of Emily Dickinson poetry is that there is mysticism and spiritualism in it. In her views, poetry has a divine inspiration; therefore, she writes poetry with full poetic perspectives. Most of the poems she writes are the result of her personal thinking and imagination. She also shares the themes of pains and sufferings in almost every poem as she thinks that life is based on these two ingredients. It also shows that in the 19th century, American literature was not influenced by any second thought, hence, it was entirely based on personal issues.

There is no denying the fact that realism is the characteristic due to which Emily Dickinson poetry is remarkable and a hallmark of American literature. In her poetry, she never creates a utopian or perfect world. Life is full of problems and she talks about them realistically. Instead of escaping from the problems of life, she compels her readers to face them. For instance, when she talks about death. She pretends that it is her only friend in this world and certain death has come to take her to another world.

Love life of Emily Dickinson was very distributed. Her poetry reflects one sided love and affection. She writes about the miseries that a person suffers being in a relationship. Like romantic poets she does not exaggerate natural objects as nature no longer gives her pleasure in the way it feels pleasant to the romantic poets. She is not in favor of love as love played no important role in her life. It is apparent from her poetry that she gives a message to her readers that love is the only reason due to which every female has no self respect at all. She is of the view that life of a married woman becomes full of miseries and she loses her place in the society.

In addition, she proves that people love each other just for physical pleasure. Love does not mentally support a person. In fact, her poems prove that love is a basic need for physical satisfaction. It is not wrong to say that love has no special value in the eyes of Emily Diconson. She always talks about reality and speaks the truth. Thus, themes of love and affection are very rare in her poetry.

Poets that write realistic poems frequently use the technique of symbolism . In fact, every writer preaches a specific message through symbols that he uses in his poetry. Emily Dickinson like other American poets, uses a lot of symbolic images in her poems to convey a message to her audience/readers. Mostly, the symbols she uses gives a pessimistic atmosphere. Defining life is hard but she knows how to write a message in hidden words in an artistic manner. Consequently, symbolism is one of the major characteristics of Emily Dickinson poetry.

As far as her writing style is concerned, she uses more dashes than any other punctuation mark in her poetry. Perhaps, she is the only American writer who uses more dashes than commas or any other punctuation mark; however, she writes concise sentences. She knows the art of choosing an exact word for a specific idea. Grammatically, poets are always not dependent on grammar nor do they follow it completely. Similarly, Emily Dickenson does not keep an eye on the grammatical structure of her poems. Usually, she does so for creating lyrics and rhymes in poems.

So far as the rhythm in Emily Dickinson poetry is concerned, she has experimented with different techniques due to which unique writing style and distinctive style of writing are two best characteristics of her poetry. She uses different punctuation marks for different purposes. For instance, she uses (‘) in order to create stress in a line. Usually, she writes poems with stanzas containing four lines. Nevertheless, she writes poems with such a passion that it increases interest of her readers.

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A day by emily dickinson analysis?

In “A Day,” Emily Dickinson uses strong imagery and figurative language to describe the passage of time. She begins by comparing the day to a “boat” that “steals along” without anyone noticing. The next two stanzas are full of images of the sun and sky, which she uses to contrast the busyness of the day with the stillness of night. In the final stanza, Dickinson reflects on how the day will end “with a Pearl,” signifying the value of each day.

A day by Emily Dickinson is a poem about the speaker’s experience of time. The speaker begins by talking about how a day feels like “a year” and how night feels like “a century.”Throughout the poem, the speaker reflects on how time seems to move more slowly or quickly depending on her mood and her interests. The poem ends with the speaker wondering if there is a limit to how long a day can feel.

What is the meaning of the poem a day by Emily Dickinson?

‘A Day’ by Emily Dickinson is a well-known metaphysical poem of the nineteenth century, famous for its double meaning and intellectual metaphors. In a literal sense, ‘A Day’ describes sunrise and sunset. In a metaphorical sense, it also details the transition from life to death. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter, with each stanza consisting of eight lines. The first and third stanzas describe the sunrise, while the second and fourth stanzas describe the sunset. The poem uses a number of metaphors and symbols to convey its message. For example, the sunrise is described as ‘the East wind stirring’, which could represent the beginning of a new day or the beginning of a new life. The sunset is described as ‘the West wind ceasing’, which could represent the end of a day or the end of a life. The poem also makes use of the seasons to represent the passage of time. The first stanza mentions spring, while the fourth stanza mentions winter. This could represent the cycle of life, with spring representing birth and winter representing death. Overall, ‘A Day’ is a complex and thought-provoking poem that uses a variety of literary devices to explore the themes of life and death.

Dickinson’s seclusion was a great boon to her poetic development. With few distractions, she was able to focus on her craft and explore a wide range of emotions and ideas in her poems. From the loneliness and pain of death to the ecstasy of love, Dickinson’s poems offer a unique and intimate look at the human experience. Her focus on religious and moral themes also gave her poetry a timeless quality that has resonated with readers for generations.

What is the most famous Emily Dickinson quote

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tunes without the words and never stops at all. Emily Dickinson

There are a few things to keep in mind when reading Dickinson’s poetry: be open to linguistic surprise, review the major characteristics of her poetry, and try not to expect that the poem will “mean” one thing. Sometimes her syntax can be problematic, but that is often because the poems are so compressed.

What is the symbolism in Emily Dickinson poems?

Dickinson uses symbols to establish the cycle of life and its different stages. The child symbolizes innocence, the field of grain represents productivity, and the sunset signifies the end of life. Through these symbols, Dickinson communicates that death is inevitable and that life is a continuous cycle.

Dickinson’s poetic style was unique for her time period. She often used slant rhyme and wrote in short, concise verse. Her poems often dealt with dark or mysterious topics, such as death and loss. This made her work stand out from the more lighthearted and optimistic poetry of her contemporaries.

What makes Emily Dickinson so special?

Emily Dickinson is important for her bold original verse, epigrammatic compression, unique voice, and enigmatic genius. Her work is often studied for its insight into the human condition, and she is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century.

Please provide more information on the topic.

What are the most significant features of Emily Dickinson’s poems

Emily Dickinson is one of the most innovative and original poets of all time. She was known for her use of slant rhymes, lack of titles, and idiosyncratic punctuation. One of her favorite themes was immortality, and she often explored this through her poems.

How is Emily Dickinson’s poem an allegory?

Allegories are often used to teach a lesson or convey a certain message. In Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Died for Beauty,” the speaker is someone who died for beauty and the person they meet is someone who died for truth. The speaker asks the person if they regret their decision to die for truth. The person responds that they do not regret their decision, because they would rather die for truth than live a lie. This exchange between the two people symbolizes the larger idea that it is better to die for something you believe in than to live a life full of lies.

In “Lightning is the language of truth,” Emily Dickinson uses the image of lightning to explore the many ideas associated with truth. She is not searching for a definitive answer, but rather is determined to consider all the possibilities. By doing so, she creates a poem that is both ambiguous and thought-provoking.

What image does Dickinson use to represent the grave

The speaker in this poem is accepting of death, and is comfortable with the idea of dying. Dickinson uses the metaphor of a house to describe the grave, which is a familiar image for readers. This reinforces the idea that the speaker is at peace with their impending death.

In Dickinson’s nature poetry, we are transported to a world that is separated from our own. It is a world of flora and fauna, a world of her own. Nature became the link between herself and the external world. Her life’s journey is from the world of innocence to that of experience, and so does her understanding of nature.

Why is the poem titled day by day?

Day by day,

We advance in strength and power,

A thanksgiving offering to Thee!

For all the progress made,

And for all that is yet to be,

We praise and thank Thee!

Death is Emily Dickinson’s main theme which left its impact on all her thinking and gave its tint to the majority of her poems. For Dickinson, death is the supreme touchstone for life. She lived incessantly in his presence.

Who was Emily Dickinson’s true love

There has been much scholarship lately indicating that Emily Dickinson had a lifelong love affair with her childhood friend Susan Gilbert, who later became her sister-in-law after she married Emily’s brother Austin Dickinson. They lived next door to each other throughout their adult lives. It is clear from their correspondence that they had a very deep and special bond. While we cannot know for sure if they were lovers in the physical sense, it is clear that they had a very intimate and passionate relationship.

Emily Dickinson and Susan Gilbert’s relationship was one of the most important in the poet’s life. Though they only met four months before Dickinson’s twentieth birthday, Gilbert quickly became her first love and closest confidante. The bond between them was strong enough to weather Dickinson’s reclusive lifestyle and Gilbert’s eventual marriage to another man; the two women remained close until Dickinson’s death in 1886. Dickinson’s poems often reflect her deep affection for Gilbert, and their relationship stands as one of the most significant in the poet’s life.

“A Day” by Emily Dickinson is a short, but powerful poem. The speaker reflects on a day that was both good and bad. The first half of the poem describes the good things that happened, while the second half describes the bad. Even though the bad outweighed the good, the speaker still ends the poem on a positive note.

Emily Dickinson’s “A Day” is a haunting and beautiful poem that speaks to the transience of life and the inevitability of death. Dickinson captures the essence of a day, from the buzz of the morning insects to the fading light of the evening, in a series of images that are both vivid and fleeting. In the end, the poem leaves us with a sense of wonder and awe at the mystery of existence.

Minnie Walters

Minnie Walters is a passionate writer and lover of poetry. She has a deep knowledge and appreciation for the work of famous poets such as William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and many more. She hopes you will also fall in love with poetry!

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Hope is the thing with feathers Summary & Analysis by Emily Dickinson

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Hope is the thing with feathers" (written around 1861) is a popular poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson. In the poem, "Hope" is metaphorically transformed into a strong-willed bird that lives within the human soul—and sings its song no matter what. Essentially, the poem seeks to remind readers of the power of hope and how little it requires of people. The speaker makes it clear that hope has been helpful in times of difficulty and has never asked for anything in return. "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" is one of a number of poems by Dickinson that breathes new life into an abstract concept by using surprising imagery and figurative language.

• Read the full text of “Hope is the thing with feathers”

The Full Text of “Hope is the thing with feathers”

1 “Hope” is the thing with feathers -

2 That perches in the soul -

3 And sings the tune without the words -

4 And never stops - at all -

5 And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

6 And sore must be the storm -

7 That could abash the little Bird

8 That kept so many warm -

9 I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

10 And on the strangest Sea -

11 Yet - never - in Extremity,

12 It asked a crumb - of me.

“Hope is the thing with feathers” Summary

“hope is the thing with feathers” themes.

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Hope is the thing with feathers”

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea -

Lines 11-12

Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

“Hope is the thing with feathers” Symbols

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Hope is the thing with feathers” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

Extended Metaphor

Pathetic fallacy, polysyndeton, alliteration, “hope is the thing with feathers” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Hope is the thing with feathers”

Rhyme scheme, “hope is the thing with feathers” speaker, “hope is the thing with feathers” setting, literary and historical context of “hope is the thing with feathers”, more “hope is the thing with feathers” resources, external resources.

Further Educational Resources — Resources for students about Emily Dickinson provided by the Dickinson museum (situated in her old house).

The Poem Out Loud — A reading of the poem by Mairin O'Hagan.

The Original Poem — An image of the poem in Dickinson's own handwriting.

Other Dickinson Poems — A link to numerous other Emily Dickinson poems.

More About the History of Hope — A BBC radio documentary in which experts discuss the concept of hope and its history.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk

After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

A Light exists in Spring

A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

A narrow Fellow in the Grass

An awful Tempest mashed the air—

As imperceptibly as grief

A still—Volcano—Life—

Because I could not stop for Death —

Before I got my eye put out

Fame is a fickle food

I cannot live with You –

I cautious, scanned my little life

I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

I did not reach Thee

I died for Beauty—but was scarce

I dreaded that first Robin, so

I dwell in Possibility –

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

If I can stop one heart from breaking

I had been hungry, all the Years

I have a Bird in spring

I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

I like a look of Agony

I like to see it lap the Miles

I measure every Grief I meet

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

I started Early — Took my Dog —

I taste a liquor never brewed

It was not Death, for I stood up

I—Years—had been—from Home—

Like Rain it sounded till it curved

Much Madness is divinest Sense -

My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

Nature is what we see

One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

Publication — is the Auction

Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

Success is counted sweetest

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

The Bustle in a House

The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

There came a Wind like a Bugle

There is no Frigate like a Book

There's a certain Slant of light

There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

The Soul has bandaged moments

The Soul selects her own Society

The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

They shut me up in Prose –

This is my letter to the world

This World is not Conclusion

'Twas the old—road—through pain—

We grow accustomed to the Dark

What mystery pervades a well!

Whose cheek is this?

Wild nights - Wild nights!

Everything you need for every book you read.