Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s Poem

Speaker: Emily Dickinson Perspective: It is displayed in the poet's point of view. The poem showcases the poet's contemplative thoughts on the subject of hope and it's most accurate physical representation. Audience: General Tone: The poet conveys a sincere and contemplative tone. Mood: The poem emits an idyllic mood. Structure: Iambic Trimeter. It contains 3 stanzas and each stanza is a quatrain. The poet shows emphasis with the dashes. It is an extended metaphor (Single comparison throughout the poem: hope with bird). There is also euphony, where the use of words come together and create a smooth flow that is very pleasing to the mind and ear. There is many imagery used to describe hope in a physical manifestation. The rhyme scheme varies: ABCD EFEG (ABAC) HIII (ABBB) Color: An array of soft, pastel red, yellow, and orange. Image: I see a pure white bird with soft yet strong wings. I see perched on a translucent and silhouette of a person's soul which is colored a pastel yellow. I hear the bird singing a melody that is universal and can be understood by all. Analysis Line 1: There is an emphasis on Hope due to the quotations. The thing with feathers is a direct comparison of hope to a bird. Birds have feathers that are very soft and flimsy, but when they are needed and used, such as in flight, the feathers become strong enough to carry birds through opposing currents. Imagery is evident here because it is describing what a bird would look like. Lines 2-3: The poet describes hope as an internal feeling that is derived from the soul. Without the words is used to convey hope as universal and something untainted by misunderstanding. More imagery is shown here to describe the sound and the placement in which hope can be found in. Line 4: Never stops describes hope as something eternal and never-ending with emphasis in at all to say that it is unbounded. The emphasis is evident when the poet uses dashes to separate -at all-. Line 5: In this line, gale is defined as strong winds. Therefore, this line is stating that hope is strongest during difficult situations. Line 6-7: Lines 6 and 7 talks about the strength of hope. Here, it is claiming that even if the situation is extreme and severe, hope will allow us to persevere even if it is hard to. Line 8: The poet is describing the feelings hope grant us which are feelings of warmth. Hope allows us to have faith that there will be a happy and good end result from our struggles. The second stanza is embodied with imagery to describe the hypothetical strength hope would have if it were a bird. Line 9-10: This line contains the first use of a personal pronoun. The writer seems to be describing her personal opinion on the subject. The poem was formerly a general perspective, but in the third stanza, is shifted to her personal experience and thoughts. In addition, the narrator is indicating that she has heard hope in certain situations that was unfamiliar and unpleasant. Such a description further strengthen hope's perseverance during tough circumstances. Lines 11-12: The narrator points out that hope has no price and no consequences. Hope is selfless: it is always giving and never taking. Hope gives us a limitless amount of possibilities and opportunities, and it is an abstract and intangible feeling that will never die out. Theme: Hope is beautiful and universal. It is also completely selfless and perseveres through all. About the Poet: Emily Dickinson was born on the December of 1830 in Massachusetts. She is iconic and one of America's greatest and unique writer. She deviated from the restrictions and guidelines poetry at her time contained. She was unique in her style due to the purpose she strived for in her writings during this period. She like representing an intangible thing with a physical form such as what she did here. Furthermore, she like some other great writers during her time, ventured within the different forms of expression to free it from traditional limitations.

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