"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers

Misfortune, and one’s ability to weather it, is a major theme in the poem, where “Hope” is largely defined by its usefulness in helping the speaker through weather events or through hostile terrains. Many of these forces, such as the “Gale” (Line 5) and the “chillest land” (Line 9) are understood to indicate emotional states. It is significant, however, that these states find expression through natural, physical imagery. Even the bird’s “tune” (Line 3) could be understood, on its surface, as a natural phenomenon. All of the forces at work in this poem, in other words, are forces of nature.

The poem’s speaker, therefore, uses “hope” to help navigate powerful emotional forces beyond their control. Since the misfortunes are characterized through natural phenomena, the poem suggests that misfortune and emotional turmoil are both natural and inevitable. Natural phenomena are forces that cannot be fought, only weathered. This is why the bird’s “tune [...] is heard” (Line 3) in “the Gale” (Line 5) but cannot stop the wind. The same can be said for hope when one is in the throes of misfortune; hope cannot change the present misfortune, but it can help one’s endurance. This is true even if hope feels small and vulnerable to the forces of misfortune, like a “little Bird” (Line 5), would be to the force of a “Gale” (Line 7).