That Perches in the soul
What does the exopression "That Perches in the soul" mean?
Thank you.
Why do you capitalize "perches"? It appears to be a verb (which one does not capitalize), and even if it were a noun, it's a common noun. The clause appears to mean, "that sits or rests in the soul." THe antecedent of the clause is something that takes a perch (a seat or a position a bit apart, in real life probably an elevated, sometimes precarious, position) in one's soul--something that stays with you in that place from which emanates the "still, small voice" telling you to do the right thing.
SSI can't remember if Emily Dickinson capitalized Perches in the original manuscript, but the poem reads:
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 chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Thank you very much for the explanations and particularly for the poem!