Analysis of ““Hope” is the Thing with Feathers”

“”Hope” is the Thing with Feathers” was composed by Emily Dickinson in 1861, right
after Dickinson experienced an emotional crisis. It is thought that this was the reason
that drove her to write prolifically. In 1862 she composed more than three hundred
poems in which this one is included. It was published in 1891 in the second collection
of “Poems by Emily Dickinson”.
The poem’s theme is focused on hope. It is shown as a bird that keeps singing even
when there is adversity. Dickinson uses the bird to show her thoughts on human
optimism in times of adversity.
Speaker
Tone
As for the metrical pattern, it is made of three quatrain stanzas with regular meter that
alternates between lines. The stanza begins with a line of iambic tetrameter and follows
with a line of iambic trimeter. The poem follows a ABAB rhyme scheme in the first two
stanzas and an ABBB in the final one. Regarding the foots, the first one is a trochee
which gives more emphasis to the word “hope” that, as mentioned before, is the central
theme of the poem. The final foot is catalectic.
The syntax of the poem is paratactical since sentences are simple and juxtaposed,
except for the first two lines that form a subordinate sentence.
Diction
Analysis stanza by stanza
Conclusion