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Emily DickinsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“Hope is a strange invention” is better understood when placed within the context of three of Dickinson’s poems that begin with the syntactical structure “Hope is….” Dickinson wrote “Hope is a thing with feathers” around 1861, though it was eventually published in 1891. During the time in which this poem was written, Dickinson was becoming a recluse while “America was experiencing the social, political, and military crisis of the Civil War” (“‘Hope’ Is The Thing With Feathers.” Encyclopedia.com, 2019). This first poem approaches the concept of hope with a similarly optimistic outlook as “Hope is a strange invention,” expressing the viability of hope and its perseverance despite any “storm” (Line 6). In this case, “storm” could refer to the impending Civil War.
While “Hope is a strange invention” was written after the Civil War ended in 1865, the nation was still healing from the turbulence and suffering incurred between 1861 and 1865. Also, 1873 through 1879 in the United States saw the Long Depression and Reconstruction from 1865–1877. During Reconstruction, the nation attempted to reintegrate the 11 states of the Confederacy back into the Union and restructure society after slavery ended. Dickinson maintains her optimistic sense of hope in her poem written during this period, despite the turmoil that continued to surround her and threaten the world outside of her home in Amherst.
By Emily Dickinson
A Bird, came down the Walk
Emily Dickinson
A Clock stopped—
Emily Dickinson
A narrow Fellow in the Grass (1096)
Emily Dickinson
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
Emily Dickinson
Fame Is a Fickle Food (1702)
Emily Dickinson
"Hope" Is the Thing with Feathers
Emily Dickinson
I Can Wade Grief
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Cleaving in my Mind
Emily Dickinson
I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain
Emily Dickinson
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I should die
Emily Dickinson
If you were coming in the fall
Emily Dickinson
I heard a Fly buzz — when I died
Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Emily Dickinson
Much Madness is divinest Sense—
Emily Dickinson
Success Is Counted Sweetest
Emily Dickinson
Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Emily Dickinson
The Only News I Know
Emily Dickinson
There is no Frigate like a Book
Emily Dickinson