Hope Metaphors

How does the poem “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” explore the idea of possibility?

The poem, ‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers, explores the idea of possibility through a poetic technique called metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech where something is told as something else. In the first, second and third stanza, there are metaphorical phases spotted that explore the idea of possibility. The first stanza talks about how you will never run out of possibility, second stanza is about how possibility can bring forth feelings and the third stanza tells how there are always possible choices out there, no matter how bad or extreme the situation is that a person is stuck in. So how does hope and possibility relate to start with? Well, hope

is what expresses possibility through a person’s feelings and emotions, possibility is the reason why we feel hope.

This poem explores the idea of possibility by telling the readers how possibility can be described as or seen as through hope in the first stanza.

The poet described what possibility is through a metaphor. “Never stops -- at all” is the metaphor that helps show the idea of possibility by describing it. If this poem talks about how hope “never stops at all” to have hope, then possibility “never stops at all” too as it is the reason for why hope exists. Using metaphors to describe hope and if thought about deeply, possibility too, is what the poet succeeded in telling the viewers.

The idea of possibility is explored in a phrase in the second stanza by saying what it can cause. This phrase is, like the previous example the last paragraph, a metaphor. “That kept so many warm” is a metaphor talking about hope and involuntarily talked about possibility too. The said metaphor is saying how hope is comfort and how it’s able to reassure people. In a way, you could call possibility something that is able to cause comfort as the mere thought of possibility causes hope, which is comfort. Possibility is what causes hope, this is told to the viewers by a metaphorical phrase in the second

stanza.

Possibility is explored in the poem in phrases spotted in the first, second, and of course, the third stanza, though in the third stanza, the poem tells what possibility can do.

This is told to the audience through a poetic technique which is metaphor, like the other phrases exploring the idea of possibility found in the first and second stanza.The phrase “I’ve heard it in the chillest land - / and on the strongest sea” is the metaphor found in the third stanza. This metaphorical phrase is talking about hope and possibility at the same time. You can’t actually hear hope, but this metaphor is telling the audience that hope can happen in the “chillest land” and on the “strongest sea”. The “chillest land” and “strongest sea” if modernised, symbolises extreme adversity. Emily Dickinson, the poet, is telling the audience that a person going through extreme adversity can still find hope, a person going through extreme adversity can still find possibility that things will get better for them. This is what possibility can do, it can give people hope, people who may be going through tough circumstances. Possibility is capable of bringing hope to those stuck in a sticky situation, the audience is informed by that in a phrase with a deep meaning located in the third

stanza.

The poem, that Emily Dickinson wrote, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” was capable of telling those reading it what hope can be described as, what hope can cause and what hope can do. Hope can be described as something that never stops, hope can cause warmth in people and hope can help those who are on the chillest land and in the strongest sea. Emily Dickinson unintentionally also informed the readers what possibility can be described as, what possibility can cause and what possibility can do. Possibility can be described as something that never stops as an individual’s hope never stops, and hope can’t stop unless possibility is taken away from that individual, possibility can cause comfort to people by causing hope and possibility is capable of bringing hope.