18 pages • 36 minutes read
Emily Dickinson"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1891A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The thing with feathers
“[T]he thing with feathers” is a bit of a mystery in the poem. Were it not for the immediate equation between “the thing with feathers” and hope, the first stanza would read like a riddle. It is not clear what exactly “the thing with feathers” is supposed to represent in concrete terms. Of course, the speaker of the poem uses the “thing with feathers” as a symbol of hope, but it is not clear how exactly the reader is supposed to envision this creature. Since feathers only appear on birds and angels, however, there are limited possibilities.
The speaker’s use of vague language in relating the “thing with feathers” allows it to become a more precise metaphor than it could otherwise be. Traditional metaphors are often troubled by their imprecision—a man can be related to an ox to demonstrate his strength, for instance, but that does not mean the man has fur or horns. By keeping the symbol of “the thing with feathers” vague, the speaker only needs to reveal the relevant metaphorical details. Still, as covered in the Poem Analysis, there is reason to believe that the “thing with feathers” refers to a celestial figure.
Music and Wind
Music and wind are recurring motifs in “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.” Both music and wind are produced through the movement of air, and the poem seems to link them in this way. For instance, the “tune without the words” (Line 3) is juxtaposed with “Gale” (Line 5). The speaker states that the “tune [...] is heard” (Line 3) above the “Gale” (Line 5), suggesting that the two forces are in opposition to one another.
Though music and wind are produced in the same way, they can also be seen as opposites. Music has a creative, pleasant quality. In a way, music is the creation of art or beauty through the use of the air. In the poem, the “tune” (Line 3) of the “thing with feathers” (Line 1) seems to refer to emotional resilience. Opposed to that resilience, wind is destructive and unpleasant. Its nature is to “abash” (Line 7) and to undermine the positive emotions created by the music. In the poem, wind and music are constantly threatening to out-blow or drown-out one another.
Warmth and Cold
The speaker also creates a juxtaposition between warmth and cold in the last two stanzas of “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers.” Similar to the battle between music and wind, the struggle between warmth and cold is emotional. This struggle seems to run parallel with that of music and wind, in fact.
Music is often coded as keeping “so many warm” (Line 8), while storms, wind, and the associated rain have an intrinsic association with the cold. In the poem this struggle is seen in the juxtaposition of “warm” (Line 8) and “chillest” (Line 9), as well as in the perfect rhyme of “warm” (Line 8) and “storm” (Line 6).
Related Titles
By Emily Dickinson
