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"Hope" by Emily Dickinson




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Emily Dickinson
    

“Hope”
                                                                                              

   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 chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.





Note: Dickinson defines hope by comparing it to a bird (a metaphor).
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  For sound go to this link:   http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gale
 
 gale 1  (gl) n.

1.
       a. A wind with a speed of from 34 to 40 knots (39 to 46 miles per hour; 63 to 74 kilometers per hour), according to the Beaufort scale. Also called fresh gale.                                                                                                

       b. A storm at sea.
                              Britain braced for gale-force winds and one month's rain in a day.

   By Aislinn Simpson                                               

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2682513/Brita.
    Published: 6:15PM BST 04 Sep 2008

       
2. A forceful outburst: gales of laughter.
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sore  (sôr, sr)        http://www.thefreedictionary.com/               

adj. sor·er, sor·est
1. Painful to the touch; tender.
2. Feeling physical pain; hurting: sore all over.
3. Causing misery, sorrow, or distress; grievous: in sore need.
4. Causing embarrassment or irritation: a sore subject.
5. Full of distress; sorrowful.
6. Informal Angry; offended.   ___________________                                                                                     

n.
1. An open skin lesion, wound, or ulcer.
2. A source of pain, distress, or irritation.

(NOTE: Dickinson is using the word as an adjective for the #6 definition.)          
 
This is a bird flying in an "angry" storm. The fact that it can keep flying makes the storm "angry or sore." (personification)
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a·bash  (-bsh) v.           ( http://www.thefreedictionary.com/abash)

 a·bashed, a·bash·ing, a·bash·es
To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass.          
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1. In the poem the bird is a metaphor for     
2. We could also say that the bird is a . 
3. The storm is a symbol for what?
4. Where does this "bird" perch?  
5. What does "abash" mean?
6. Why do you think that Dickinson says that it " never asked a crumb of me"?
7. The theme could be stated as
 

 DICKINSON

HOPE
STORM
SORE
CRUMB
ABASH
GALE
METAPHOR
PERSONIFICATION
SYMBOL
BIRD