Is hope a steady notion which always encourage and lead people's way or is hope vague and never be able to reach? The poem"'Hope' Is a Thing With Feathers" written by Emily Dickinson has left space for readers to reach their own interpretation of the meaning of hope at the end of the poem.
For the entire poem, Dickinson similized hope as a little bird which sings beautiful tunes in all conditions. In the first stanza, Dickinson depicts the power and inspiration of hope by saying hope as "a thing with feather that perches in the sole", indicating that hope is attracting people's true heart and always influence people's minds. The next two lines "And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all" suggests that hope is continuously encouraging, leading people with the purest tune which is so powerful that does not even need to include any word. However, the second stanza describes the vulnerability of hope. Although hope can lead people with the "sweetest" encouragement when people feel disappointed or perplexed, "Sore" in life such as pain or burden could easily destroyed people's hope, just like the ocean submerge the sound of a bird and even itself. The third stanza, the writer uses simile to leave a mystery for the readers on whether hope is reachable or not. "I've heard it in the chillest land and on the strangest sea" suggests that when suffering difficulties in life like being trapped "in the chillest land and on the strangest sea", people do hear the tune of hope. However, Dickinson uses a "Yet" to transit her tone, saying that the bird, which is hope, never "asked a crumb" or never reaches her at all. Thus, what does the "asked a crumb" mean? Does it mean that hope never ask for any return but just stays selflessly to encourage people? Or does it mean that people can never get closer or achieve their hopes?
The structure also follows the contents of the content of this poem. The first two stanzas have the same rhymes scheme of "ABCB", implying that they are parallel and talking about the similar, or contrast things-characteristics (strength and vulnerability) of hope. The flow and tone of these two stanzas are steady and light, just like a tune singing by the bird of hope. Nevertheless, the third stanza has a totally different rhyme scheme of "ABBB", indicating that there are emphasizes on these words. " Extremity" and "me" are closely connected and contrasted that the poet personally stated that when she is facing difficulties, hope does not get closer to her. This stanza has a deeper tone , which created a sense for readers to think deeply by themselves about the true meaning of hope. Moreover, the"Yet" also contrasted with five "Ands" in the sentences above, showing that there are a transition which needed to be noticed.
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