“‘Hope’ is the Thing with Feathers” Analysis
Formalist Theory Example
In the poem “‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers” Emily Dickinson doesn’t use many different literary devices but uses one in particular a lot. The author uses metaphors most throughout the poem. The first example of this is the title. The title uses a metaphor to call a “thing with feathers,” a bird, hope. It doesn’t say outright that it is a bird but it can be implied because it is a thing with feathers. Even though unrelated, Dickinson uses birds and hope and compares the two in the title and throughout the poem.
Throughout the entire poem, Dickinson symbolizes hope as a bird. Dickinson uses metaphors in the poem to compare the two. An example of this resides in the phrase “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul.” The way …show more content…
Though the comparison continues, a new description of hope occurs. The phrase “And sweetest in the Gale is heard/And sore must be the storm/That could abash the little Bird/That kept so many warm” shows this. This phrase states that the sweetest song can even be heard in strong wind and that only a strong storm could keep the Bird from singing. The Bird in this case still represents “hope.” Even through hardship, hope still remains in people and there has to be an incredibly strong “storm” to diminish hope in people.
The author continues to personify hope through a bird as the poem concludes. The poem ends with “I've heard it in the chillest land/And on the strangest sea/Yet never in extremity/It asked a crumb of me.” Dickinson personifies “hope” in this section by making it a birdsong that can be even heard in the coldest place and on unknown seas. Even though “hope” has gone through many different hardships, it never has asked for help. The way that Emily Dickinson symbolizes “hope” as a bird gives the poem character that it wouldn't have if she outright said it represents
Formalist Theory Example
In the poem “‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers” Emily Dickinson doesn’t use many different literary devices but uses one in particular a lot. The author uses metaphors most throughout the poem. The first example of this is the title. The title uses a metaphor to call a “thing with feathers,” a bird, hope. It doesn’t say outright that it is a bird but it can be implied because it is a thing with feathers. Even though unrelated, Dickinson uses birds and hope and compares the two in the title and throughout the poem.
Throughout the entire poem, Dickinson symbolizes hope as a bird. Dickinson uses metaphors in the poem to compare the two. An example of this resides in the phrase “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul.” The way …show more content…
Though the comparison continues, a new description of hope occurs. The phrase “And sweetest in the Gale is heard/And sore must be the storm/That could abash the little Bird/That kept so many warm” shows this. This phrase states that the sweetest song can even be heard in strong wind and that only a strong storm could keep the Bird from singing. The Bird in this case still represents “hope.” Even through hardship, hope still remains in people and there has to be an incredibly strong “storm” to diminish hope in people.
The author continues to personify hope through a bird as the poem concludes. The poem ends with “I've heard it in the chillest land/And on the strangest sea/Yet never in extremity/It asked a crumb of me.” Dickinson personifies “hope” in this section by making it a birdsong that can be even heard in the coldest place and on unknown seas. Even though “hope” has gone through many different hardships, it never has asked for help. The way that Emily Dickinson symbolizes “hope” as a bird gives the poem character that it wouldn't have if she outright said it represents