Hope is the Thing with Feathers 

SATB Choir & Piano
TEXT BY AMERICAN POET EMILY DICKINSON
MUSIC BY JOANNIE ING

A setting of the poem by American poet Emily Dickinson. It is scored for SATB and piano with optional solo (or small group), and is suitable for high school and community choirs. Finalist in the Ithaca College 2014 Choral Composition Competition.

Performed by the Niagara-Wheatfield High School Choir (2014)

Verse 1

Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

Verse 2

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

Verse 3

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

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