# Hope — Poetry character guide

> Hope in Poetry by George MacDonald.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0053-hope-deferred-summer-is-come-again-the-sun-is-bright

## Who they are

Personified virtue, often deferred or patient.

## In the story

### [The Death of the Old Year](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/the-death-of-the-old-year)

Personified as a farewell figure who promises to meet again in the deathless land.

### [In February](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/in-february)

Personified as one of the words God writes in the first violet.

### [December 27, 1879](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/december-27-1879)

Noted for having gladsome notes but with the throat of a bird unripe.

### [God; Not Gift](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/god-not-gift)

Hope is personified as a diminishing companion that the speaker clings to, even as it fades.

### [A Father to a Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/a-father-to-a-mother)

Personified and called upon to wait on Sorrow, embodying comfort and anticipation.

### [Approaches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/approaches)

Personified as a singer that rouses the soul, bringing the Lord into the house.

### [Travellers’ Song](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/travellers-song)

Hope is mentioned as one of the contrasting emotions that come and go, part of the journey's fabric.

### [Hope Deferred: Where Is Thy Crown, O Tree of Love?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/hope-deferred-where-is-thy-crown-o-tree-of-love)

Referenced as the sustaining force that gives good cheer and enables the tree to bloom better each year.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters/hope
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_8_se/characters