Themes in Hope Is the Thing with Feathers

The scale of the poem is at once intimate and very broad, expressing the theme of hope as both personal and universal. In the first stanza, the description of hope as a single bird “that perches in the soul” creates a focused, intimate view. In the second stanza, it becomes clear that hope is actually widespread, having “kept so many warm.” In the final stanza, the speaker returns to a personal reflection: “it [never] asked a crumb of me.” The poem is effective in its attention to how hope is a universal phenomenon and yet experienced on a personal level.

The speaker characterizes the tune as “without words” to show that this song is a non-linguistic, non-rational, instinctive tune. Metaphorically, this signifies that hope exists outside of what is rational or what can be put into words; it comes instead from within.