I'm sure most of the world would prefer to have peace and quiet to live their lives … Emily Dickinson wrote this thoughtful poem …
White Feather
"Hope is the Thing with Feathers”
Hope is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I've heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea:
Yet – never - in extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
by Emily Dickinson c 1861
Blackbird - who sings so wonderfully
as we move from winter into spring
With Easter at the weekend … let's think for ourselves and look to happier times ahead …
 |
| Spring meadow heralding happier times, I hope |
as Emily poetically writes …
Hope perches in the soul
Happy, peaceful and understanding times to you all, as we move into the second quarter of 2024 ...
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
25 comments:
That is a lovely, simple poem. Thank you for posting it, Hilary.
Without hope, life can be very bleak.
Hope _does_ perch in the soul, but it is not necessarily a long term resident. Just as your blackbird can sit on a tree branch, so can it fly away.
Hari OM
🙏
YAM xx
@ Janice - it's a gentle poem isn't it ... delighted you enjoyed it - and yes without hope, life can be very bleak.
@ Hels - I go for the positive takes on life, and try not to dwell here or in my own life on the negatives ... they're there - but I don't need to discuss them ... the blackbird lurks in the hedges - singing from very early morning to later on ... glorious song.
@ Yam - thanks ... yes, I knew you'd appreciate it ...
Thanks you, you three - it's a chilly lead up to Easter weekend - with thoughts for one and all - Hilary
What a beautiful poem.
I'm blessed to have birds in my life - sweet little hummingbirds visit the feeders on my back porch while 2 friendly crows come calling at the front deck for their daily treats.
The sounds of nature can be heard, even in a bustling city, if one pauses long enough to hear it. I pause often these days.
I wish you a happy day, and much joy heading into this Easter weekend, Jenny.
Simple poem but it gets its point across.
Happy Easter!
Hope is a lovely thing.
Hope is a fragile essential. And of course, with my love of birds Emily's poem speaks strongly to and for me.
One of my favorite poems. In fact, I meant to put it into my last post so I am happy to see it on yours! x
Singing the tune without the words is a lovely concept of hope
Hoppy Easter, Hils.
@ Jenny - lovely to see you back blogging; I remember the birds when I was over in Vancouver Island ... beautiful and different to those here. I hear the birds coming to for Spring ... despite the seagulls!
@ Alex - yes ... the poems definitely gets its point over ...
@ Liz - thank you ...
@ Sue - so good to see you back and feeling easier. I'm delighted this poem was an appropriate one for you to come back to - your love of nature shines through ...
@ Kay - thank you ... and so pleased you could read it here ...
@ Anabel - 'hope' we all need it at this time. If I could keep a tune ... I'd be singing more!
@ Sandra - thanks ...
Happy Easter to one and all - with thoughts at this time - cheers Hilary
Emily Dickinson’s most well-known poem perhaps, or is it just so familiar to birders, and the fact that parts of it have been used as the title for other books? In any event, it is really quite lovely. I so much agree with your response to Hel’s comment above. Dwell on the positive to the greatest extent possible. Hope does perch in the soul doesn’t it, and at times sings very loudly. There are days when I think the choir has taken up residence. Hugs from Ontario - David
Wasn't that Emily Dickinson amazing?
Have a blessed weekend, Hils.
A lovely poem! We must never give up hope, bleak as things may seem. And they are decidedly bleak at the moment. It seems as if the entire world is in turmoil!
Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Easter weekend, Hilary.
I think this is my favorite of all her poems. And so perfect for the Easter season.
@ David - thanks ... yes everyone seems to know about this work of hers. I'm sure it's used in many places - literature, some lines as quotes etc etc ... Thanks re the nod to my take on being positive, at least publicly, however challenging life is. Yes our birds are singing loudly ... but the 'beloved' magpie was sitting in the tree harassing the little blue tits ... it's life, isn't it.
@ Sandra - thanks - and yes her poem is inspiring - I'm going to use it in another group I will be at later in the week ...
@ Debbie - you're so right we must never give up hope - bleak as things are and they are especially for some, particularly in other parts of the world: turmoil is a good word.
@ Karen - I'm not that aware of her poetry in detail - though I definitely know her name ... I was pleased to post this particular poem.
Thanks to you four - lovely to see you - have a peaceful and blessed Easter - it's cool here ... but Daylight has 'kicked in' ... so longer evenings ... cheers Hilary
Hope is what we all ride on, even at our dimmest. This poem feeds the soul. Thank you for sharing, Hilary. And glad to meet you on Blogger. Happy Easter.
I enjoy memorizing poems, and Dickinson's poetry has characteristics that make it well-suited for that. This is a lovely poem, and the photo illustrations were well chosen. Thank you.
As a non-native speaker, poems in English have always been a bit difficult for me, but this one has stuck since I read it for the first time many years ago. And you mention the Blackbird, that beautiful bird with its joyful song that I remember so much from my life in Germany and miss here in California. I remember sitting on my parents' balcony and seeing the blackbird on the roof of the building across from them, singing his little heart out. It has always been my favorite bird song. However, now in spring the garden is full of bird song and I enjoy my winged friends. Hope - sometimes it can be difficult to keep up hope, but I prefer to look at the positive as much as possible. Thank you for this beautiful post, Hilary. (I came over from David's blog again.)
@ Arpita - thanks for visiting ... hope leads us on - which is what we need so often life ... also good to see you here - thank you.
@ Snowbrush - I'm glad you enjoyed the set up for Dickinson's poem - I haven't read as many American poets as I should ... good to see you.
@ Carola - thank you for coming over from David's birding blog - the blackbird's song with his orange bill always beguiles me at this time of year. English garden birds are just 'English' aren't they ... I'm glad you remember your German blackbird before you emigrated to sunny California. Always differences - they're so much better for us to learn about. Thanks re the positive take on life ... it's so essential for an easier time - as you say so well in your comment.
Lovely to see the three of you - thank you for commenting - cheers Hilary
Popping over from David's blog to say hello. What a sweet gift you sent him! And this poem is certainly a gift this morning. Cheers!
We are enjoying the return of many birds to our yard. Although, we were summoned today to bring the large birdbath out of winter storage. The small plastic one we left out all winter wasn't deep enough for the large black birds to enjoy.
@ Granny Sue - thanks for coming over from David's blog - he gave a donation to his local Nature Reserve organisation - so it was reciprocated - I couldn't but help him get a set of Mary Anning stamps.
@ Dan - yes the birds are out in force - as too the malevolent magpies - threatening the tiniest bluetits. Ha ha - bring out the large birdbath - I'm pleased the black birds are being able to clean themselves now ... I'm sure they're grateful!
Cheers to you both - Hilary
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