“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.”

What does it mean?

Dickinson imagines hope as a small bird that lives inside us. It is light and quiet, but it keeps singing even in hard times.

Key vocabulary

perches

sits on something, the way a bird sits on a branch

soul

the inner, spiritual part of a person

• “Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed.”– Emily Dickinson
• “Forever is composed of nows.”– Emily Dickinson