Emily Dickinson, “Hope” Is the thing with feathers’

A windfall apple is an apple that has fallen from a tree. When we gather windfalls, we help ourselves to apples that happen to have fallen.

In this exercise, we help ourselves to words that have arrived by chance, and use these to inspire our own creative endeavours.

How to use our ‘windfall words’ exercise

Here is the poem, “Hope” is the thing with feathers, by Emily Dickinson (1891)

“Hope” is the 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.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers, Emily Dickinson

In Dickinson’s poem, “Hope” is represented as a bird that lives in the human soul. The bird sings its song no matter what.

We’ll use this poem to generate our collection of windfall words. Can you write a short poem or passage about your hopes for the next few months? Use as many of these words as possible.

Your windfall words are…
Hope – Soul – Words – Storm – Warm – Land – Yet – Me – Sweetest

What does hope sound and feel like to you, today? Takes some time to reflect on what you have written. You can come back to this exercise to examine the idea of hope in the future, and see what might have changed.