Hope is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson
This week's poem is a hopeful one from Emily Dickinson to start off the New Year. Her voice, which I usually find ethereal and unsettling, is grounded here.
Hope is the thing with feathers
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.
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830. She is known for her solitary lifestyle--she rarely left her house or hosted visitors. Along with Walt Whitman, she helped engender a uniquely American poetic voice. She died in 1886.
Hope is the thing with feathers
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.
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830. She is known for her solitary lifestyle--she rarely left her house or hosted visitors. Along with Walt Whitman, she helped engender a uniquely American poetic voice. She died in 1886.
posted by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at 1:30 PM
8 Comments:
I love this one; I learned it as a girl, but was told it stopped in the third line with 'sings.' I can see I'm going to have to blow the dust off of Emily and retrieve her from my bookshelf.
Hello, Mr. Dean,
The version you've posted is an earlier edited version, and not exactly as she wrote it. It was edited by a relative, Mabel Loomis Todd, and her "Mentor/Friend" after her death to fit the "correctness" of 19th Century rules of poetry. The Thomas Johnson edition/collection takes the poem from her original facsicles:
"Hope" is the thing with feathers--
That perches in the soul--
And sings the song 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
Thanks, Webster -- the more original version does scan differently -- and in some very interesting places, too.
Oops. There is a period after "Me" in the last line.
This is a lovely poem. It's good to see both versions too. Thanks to both of you.
Actually, Emily was not as reclusive as people like to romanticize. The cadence of her poetry followed the cadence of 8 and 6 syllable church hymns. Many of her poems can be sung to the old Coke commercial tune, "I'd like to teach the world to sing . . ."
"Yellow Rose of Texas" works as well.
babyliss, insanity workout, mac cosmetics, hollister, converse outlet, hollister, valentino shoes, giuseppe zanotti, louboutin, reebok shoes, nike roshe, beats by dre, gucci, new balance, bottega veneta, nike air max, longchamp, soccer jerseys, north face outlet, ghd, nike trainers, chi flat iron, celine handbags, asics running shoes, jimmy choo shoes, nike huarache, lululemon, nike air max, ferragamo shoes, vans, wedding dresses, birkin bag, mcm handbags, mont blanc, abercrombie and fitch, baseball bats, instyler, ray ban, converse, oakley, p90x workout, timberland boots, iphone cases, north face outlet, hollister, herve leger, soccer shoes, nfl jerseys, vans shoes, ralph lauren
Post a Comment
<< Home