One person’s theory on the meaning of the poem. Now whenever I see a blue bird I am convinced Mother sent them from heaven as a harbinger of hope and to say a quick hello to her daughter.
When my mother was alive, she loved the blue birds and at the end when she could barely speak she pointed at them from her bed which overlooked the garden to let me know that she knew they were there and saying hello. They visit me often in my yard pecking bugs from the garden or hopping into the bird bath for a quick rinse. My favorite bird by a long shot is the blue bird. Yet never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me I’ve heard it in the chillest land And on the strangest sea. And sweetest in the gale is heard And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. Have you read this poem? Want to make your own recommendation? Join in the conversation online using #SharedReading on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all. What I love most of all about this poem is the feeling of relentless positivity it brings with it and I hope that’s what comes through for anyone else reading this who really needs that at the moment. What’s more, ‘Hope’ never asks for even a crumb in return. Even if we have no words for what is happening now and no knowing either of what the future might bring if we can just hold onto our inner sense of hope, it will carry us through even the most adverse of conditions. I love how it serves almost as a reminder to us all to just keep singing inside, no matter how difficult things might feel. When I think of this bird who sings without words, never stopping in its quest, it conveys for me an immense feeing of confidence and trust. I think what comes through so differently in this poem, however, and the reason why I’ve always found it such a comfort personally, is the powerful metaphor of ‘Hope’ as a bird that just sits still within us a small feathered creature residing inside us all, keeping us warm and giving us strength.
The reason why I found this interesting, is because usually, when we think of birds we imagine them in flight, winging their way across empty skies and we tend to associate that with a sense of freedom. I’ve always felt drawn to this poem but I only recently found out that Emily Dickinson apparently had quite a love of birds.
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