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The Perennial Power of Hope

The central theme of Dickinson’s poem relates to the perennial power of hope. The speaker introduces this theme in the opening quatrain by describing a metaphorical bird that sings “the tune without the words” (line 3). This wordless tune is a symbolic song of hope. But perhaps more important than its symbolic value is the fact that this song “never stops at all” (line 4). No matter how adverse conditions might get, the metaphorical hope-bird continues to sing its song. As the speaker elaborates in the second quatrain, even in the fierce winds of “the gale” (line 5), the song of hope can still be heard. Indeed, it’s in these stormy conditions that the song sounds “sweetest” (line 5). The speaker continues to emphasize the undying nature of hope in the third quatrain. There, the speaker turns to his or her own personal experience and claims to have heard the hope-bird’s song even “in the chillest land, / And on the strangest sea” (lines 9–10). Once again, even in the most remote and unfriendly places, hope persists.

The Gift of Optimism

In addition to its prevailing insistence on hope’s unwavering nature, the poem also introduces the idea that optimism is a freely-given gift. The speaker makes this point in the poem’s closing stanza (lines 9–12):

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

To paraphrase these lines, the speaker is saying that he or she has been able to hear the bird’s song of hope in the most extreme places and conditions. Yet no matter what “extremity” the speaker finds themself in, this hope-bird never asks for anything in return. That is, the metaphorical bird has never needed so much as a metaphorical “crumb” to sustain itself. On the one hand, these lines affirm the immortal nature of hope, which seems unable to ever die away or even diminish. But on the other hand, these lines also emphasize that hope isn’t something that needs to be actively cultivated on the speaker’s part. That is, the speaker doesn’t need to work to maintain a sense of optimism. This could mean that the speaker is just a naturally hopeful person. Alternatively, it could mean that optimism is free to anyone—something like a gift from the universe that’s already “perched” inside every person.

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