Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers

Language: English

Available translation(s): FRE GER GER

Hope is [the]¹ 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.

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¹ Syderman: "a"; further changes may exist not noted.

Authorship:

by Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886), no title, appears in Poems by Emily Dickinson, first published 1891 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Ronald A. Beckett , "Hope", 2012 [ voice and piano ], from Five Poems by Emily Dickinson, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Berkowitz (b. 1926), "Hope", published 1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "Hope is the thing with feathers" [ SSAA chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "Hope is the thing with feathers", published 1961 [ medium voice and piano ], from Songs to Poems of Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]
by Ben Moore (b. 1960), "Hope is the thing with feathers " [ voice and piano ], from Eight Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928 - 2016), "Hope is the thing with feathers", 1972 [ chorus a cappella ], from Elämän kirja (A Book of Life), no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert Starer (1924 - 2001), "Hope is the thing with feathers", published 1977 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Sydeman (b. 1928), "Hope is a thing with feathers", published 1970 [ soprano or tenor and violoncello ], from Three Songs after Emily Dickinson [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 69