![]() ![]() ![]() The storm, of course, represents the challenges we experience in life that require hope to get us through. But Dickinson adds the line, “”And sings the tune without the words -/and never stops at all -” which suggests that hope is loyal and will not abandon us.ĭickinson goes further by adding the image of the little feathered thing weathering a terrible storm. I think the word “perches” is important because birds that perch can also fly away. Now we’re not just talking about a sweet image of hope but rather some “thing with feathers” that perches in that indefinable part of us that connects us with the eternal. The image of a bird as hope is lovely indeed, but by having this little feathered “thing” perching on the SOUL, well, now we’ve moved to a much deeper level, haven’t we? ![]() I came across this poem by Emily Dickinson this evening and was immediately struck by the beauty of describing hope as “the thing with feathers-/that perches in the soul-.” This uses the literary device of zoomorphism (which is defined as assigning animal-like qualities to non-animal subjects for added effect). ![]()
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