A Favorite Poem

"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 chilliest land-
And on the strangest Sea-
Yet-never-in Extremity,
It asked a crumb-of me. "

By Emily Dickinson