Hope is an unconditional belief of something good accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it. Often life's frustrations leave a silence in our souls but hope awaits to uplift the present and future. In the poem, "Hope' is the thing with feathers--...," by Emily Dickinson, hope is viewed through a bird. Emily Dickinson develops a bird as a symbol of hope through personification, diction, and metaphorical description.

Emily Dickinson uses the poetical device of personification frequently in her poem. Dickinson says the bird, "Sings the tune without words (3, Dickinson)," personifying the bird with human characteristic of singing. The bird cannot actually sing but the reader is under the impression that the birds' feelings of torment and anguish are unspoken but understood with out the necessary words. Hope is present without verbalizing, lying deep within each person. Dickinson states, "That could abash the little bird (7)," while a singing bird...