Hope is the Thing With Feathers - Emily Dickinson

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Emily Dickinson

What is the extended metaphor in this poem?

A gale" (l.5) is a strong storm. What does it symbolise?

How is Hope's song endless? (stanza 1)

What does "sore must be the storm / that could abash the little bird" mean?

What do you think the last stanza means?

Structure & Form

What is the rhyme scheme?

1. ABAB CDCD EFEF
2. ABCB DEDE FGGG
3. ABBA CDDC EFFF

Metre is the rhythm of the poem.

Each line is divided into a number of feet:

monometre 1     /      dimetre 2

trimetre 3           /      tetrametre 4

pentametre 5    /      hexametre 6

heptametre 7    /      octametre 8

A foot consists of 2 or 3 syllables (lettergrepen) with a specific stress pattern (klemtonen).

Two-syllable feet

Iambic pentametre → unstressed/stressed

 That time / of year / thou mayst / in me / behold

Trochaic tetrametre → stressed/unstressed

 Tell me / not in / mournful / numbers

Spondaic → stressed/stressed

Three-syllable feet

Anapestic trimetre → unstressed/unstressed/stressed

 And the sound / of a voice / that is still

Dactylic hexametre → stressed/unstressed/unstressed

 This is the / forest prim/eval, the / murmering / pine and the / hemlocks

What is the metre? Note: look beyond the first line!

1. iambic tetrameter
2. trochaic pentameter
3. iambic trimeter
4. trochaic trimeter

What is the point of view?

1. 1st person
2. 2nd person
3. 3rd person, limited
4. 3rd person, omniscient

Find examples of alliteration
(give the alliterating words)

Give an example of enjambement
(give the line numbers).

Now that you know a little more about the poem, do you like the message?

It's beautiful

I like the message, but not the poem

I don't like it

Bonus

Poems and songs have a lot in common. It is not uncommon for poems to be turned into songs. Listen to the video on the next slide if you are curious what this poem would sound like when sung in a harmony.