Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson

Personifications and comparisons have a big affect on the emotions you feel when reading this poems. Then there is also personification that compares the bird with having human form.

There are also two types of comparisons used in this poem, one is a metaphor, as the simple element of nature, which is a bird in this case is symbolized as the more complex concept of hope that is found in every single person. She also uses a lot of capital letters to draw attention to the main important words in the poem, which again shows the reader what parts are important. There is also some repetition from the words “and” and “that” at the beginning of many lines showing the reader that this poem is continuously describing what hope looks like and what describes hope best.

I think this is a very creative way of structuring a poem because it would make sure that every reader reads the poem exactly how Dickinson wanted it to be read. She also uses a lot of hyphens that instruct the reader to pause for a while before continuing with reading to fully understand and have time to think and the meaning of this poem. This gives a special effect at the end since the last three lines rhyme with each other. She uses a rhyme scheme that is irregular since this is a-b-c-b then a-b-a-b and then a-b-b-b. Hope is like a feather is a lyric style poem, which is a writing style she uses a lot. This would be my favorite poem since this poem contains many of Emily Dickinson’s famous writing styles.

Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson