Hope can Lead to Possibilities

Many people and books and movies and t.v shows talk about the benefits of hope.  Others speak of their futures and possibilities.  For me, I have always put the to into the same category.  I've always felt that there aren't any possibilities unless you have hope in them.  As I read The Oxford Book of American Verse, put together by F.O Mattheissen, two poems by Emily Dickinson spoke of both subjects.  Her poems "I dwell in Possibility," and "Hope is the thing with feathers," allow me to express my opinions of hope and possibility using metaphors.

In the poem, "I dwell in Possibility," Dickinson says that it is "More numerous of windows,/Superior of  doors."  This makes me think about the saying, "when one door closes, another one opens."  This poem and the quote refer to possibilities of walking through a door or window into a place to rebuild and become successful.  However, neither mention how you get through the doors.  In the poem "Hope is the thing with feathers," Dickinson refers to hope as being a bird, "that perches in the soul."  And in my opinion, I believe this bird is the key through escaping the house mentioned in "I dwell in Possibility."  Birds use their wings to fly away, and I think these wings can be a metaphor for escaping through those doors or windows into possibilities.  In conclusion, by using doors and wings, Emily Dickinson has complied with my personal opinion that you can't have possibilities without hope.