Commentary for: Tashawna Carmichael Emily and Sharon : Hope is the thing with feathers

Emily and Sharon : 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 s...




This poem is written by Emily Dickinson. I was very interested in reading the poem because the poem title was very appealing to the reader. Usually, Hope does not have feather. So, you think is she talking about a bird or the idea of having hope? And, this is what convinced me to read this poem.
All throughout the poem, Emily Dickinson is personifying hope. She is characterizing hope as if it was a bird. In the poem, she says, "And sings the tune without the words." Here, she is giving hope the ability to sing. When she gives hope the ability to sing, she does not clearly mean the ability to sing like birds do in the morning. In giving hope the ability to sing, she means that drive that keeps you alive and thinking that the impossible will happen. Everyone has hope in something. Once you stop, the song in you also stops.
I loved how she characterized the idea of hope to that of a bird. No one would think they are similar, but in this poem, she effectively personifies hope as a bird. She also effectively engages the reader by expressing thoughts that are difficult to see right away.