The Healing Journey

December 10, 2023

Hope is the thing with feathers

By Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

The American poet Emily Dickinson was little known during her lifetime. The middle of three children, she was born on December 10, 1861 in Amherst, Massachusetts. A quiet child, she liked to write, garden and bake.

Throughout her life, she experienced loss and illness. Some of her closest friends died, and she suffered from respiratory ailments and problems with her eyesight. One of the greatest tragedies this solitary woman faced was the death of her dog Carlo, who was 16 years old. This loss caused her to withdraw even more from society.

Dickinson, who never married, wrote more than 1800 poems, only ten of which were published in her lifetime. She wrote “Hope is the thing with feathers” during a time of personal crisis. The poem compares hope to a bird that lives in our souls and helps us endure whatever life throws in our path.

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