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Given that Dickinson’s poem focuses on the concept of hope, the tone is appropriately hopeful and optimistic. Aside from the clear, thematic emphasis on hope, the poem’s optimistic tone comes through Dickinson’s use of meter and rhyme. For instance, consider the metrical shift that occurs between the first and second lines of the poem. The opening line is characterized by what’s known as falling meter, which refers to a rhythmic pattern that moves from stressed to unstressed syllables (i.e., DUM-da). This pattern creates a stumbling rhythm that suggests a downward trajectory we might associate with pessimism. However, the rhythmic pattern inverts in the second line, inaugurating a rising meter that prevails throughout the rest of the poem. Emphasizing a rhythmic pattern that moves from unstressed to stressed syllables (i.e., da-DUM), rising meter creates a lifting effect that subtly suggests optimism. Dickinson also suggests optimism through the poem’s shifting rhyme scheme, which moves from lesser to greater consonance. The first quatrain rhymes ABCB, which contains only one rhyming pair. By contrast, the second quatrain mixes to rhyming pairs: ABAB. The third quatrain is the most consonant of all, since it concludes with a rousing triple rhyme: ABBB.

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