While the poem can be read as having an optimistic ending, what it is really about is the preservation of hope. It is not tethered to expectation or clear outcomes instead, it serves simply to help the individual weather stormy moments. In the same way the bird does not ask for a crumb, hope makes no demands of its beholder. This bird's song (the sonic representation of hope) is not an abstract idea, it is something the speaker has experienced for herself. The specificity of the speaker's claim also makes it appear more tangible. Not only is the bird's song durable and strong (always unceasing, even in the face of hardship) but it is given without any request. After categorizing those previous adventures as 'extremity,' the speaker goes on to say that the bird's song was given without any caveats, never asking for even 'a crumb.' This adds another dimension to the bird's generosity. The closing lines of the stanza ('Yet - never - in Extremity, / It asked a crumb - of me.') adds one final new idea. This is an expansion upon the earlier image of it withstanding powerful winds. These moments demonstrate the range of situations in which the bird ('hope') has been able to provide solace to the speaker. These lines are shorthand referencing the unforgiving coldness of the tundra and the crashing waves of a rolling ocean. These are harrowing moments: 'I’ve heard it in the chillest land - / And on the strangest Sea -' affixed with the same sort of frightening intensity as the gale-strength winds of the previous stanzas. The speaker describes the instances in which she has has heard the bird's song. In the third stanza, the perspective of the text becomes more personal. She then notes that this support has never come at any cost.

The speaker describe her long journeys to the far reaches of land and sea, stating that the bird's song has kept her company throughout. The third stanza moves away from the general 'many' and refers explicitly to the speaker ('I've').

Hope is the thing with feathers poem