Summary

The poem begins by comparing hope to a bird, a “thing with feathers” (1). This bird is internal and invisible as it “perches in the soul” (2). The song it sings has a “tune” but no “words” (3), and is defined by its ceaselessness: it “never stops – at all –” (4).

In the following stanza, the bird’s song carries on. The speaker finds herself in “the Gale” (5) – a strong wind – but the song of hope continues to be the “sweetest” thing that can be “heard” (5). Moving on, the speaker speculates on how “sore” the “storm” (6) must be, for it to “abash the little Bird” (7) that “kept so many warm” (8). This storm must be especially intense for the joyful, hopeful bird to sing more softly and less confidently than it usually does.

In spite of the storm’s intensity, the song of the bird remains audible. No matter how...