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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” relies on an extended metaphor comparing “Hope” (Line 1) to “the thing with feathers” (Line 1). Though much of the poem seems to describe a bird, this poem is not a nature study. The speaker clarifies in the first line that the poem examines the concept of “Hope” (Line 1). The placement of “Hope” (Line 1) in quotation marks suggests that, like a quotation or a word being sourced for a dictionary definition, the word is taken from outside the text. This sense of displacement is reinforced by the way “Hope” (Line 1) carries the stress and emphasis as the first word, making the first foot of the line a trochee in an otherwise iambic line.
In their description of “the thing with feathers” (Line 1), the speaker attempts to describe and understand the abstract concept of hope. In fact, a close reading of the bird imagery reveals that the vehicle of the metaphor is quite ambiguous and may not be a bird whatsoever. The speaker hesitates to make the connection between “Hope” (Line 1) and the bird explicit, first calling it “the thing with feathers” (Line 1) instead of merely a bird.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
Hope is a strange invention
Hope is a strange invention
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson