Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Poem by Emily Dickinson
Animation by Ms. Kitsis

This is my animation of "Hope is the Thing with Feathers" by Emily Dickinson. I like how she talks about hope as though it was a bird, and the way that the poem contrasts the idea of hope as something very fragile or frail ("the thing with feathers" sounds like an innocent, light, little puffball to me) with the idea that hope is so strong that the worst storm or cold cannot stop its singing. You don't expect that. Hope is an emotion that gives and gives; it "keeps us warm" without ever asking for even a "crumb" in return. I also like this poem because the first time I saw it was painted onto the walls of a library where I used to spend a lot of time. I can't even remember which library it was anymore, just the way that this poem looked floating up to the ceiling above the reading room.

Emily Dickinson lived from 1830 to 1886. She was born and spent her whole life in Amherst, Massachusetts (where I went to college!). She hardly ever left her house; she even dropped out of school, which was only a few miles away, because of homesickness ("Emily Dickinson"). But she read lots of books and wrote letters to many people, and spent a lot of time with her family. Although she wrote hundreds of poems and shared some of them with her close friends, her work was not published until after her death, when her family found a collection of nearly 1,800 of her poems. You can read more about Emily Dickinson at Poets.org.

As you watch my animation, think about what OTHER emotions might take the form of animals. If anger was an animal, what would it be? What about fear, love, or excitement? I'd love to read your ideas in the comments below!

References:

Dickinson, Emily. "Hope is the Thing with Feathers (254)." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19729

"Emily Dickinson." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2010. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155

Image credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spyndle/2884915815/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3283167892/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66176388@N00/4115785978/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/burningimage/3045914638/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickrussill/146760299/