Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “High Hopes” is a quiet meditation on expectation, self-deception, and the emotional emptiness that follows disillusionment. The title suggests a sense of aspiration, yet the poem quickly redefines what “high hopes” means—not as something lofty and unreachable, but as something close, tangible, and comforting. Through a restrained, intimate tone and everyday imagery, Nye captures the way small hopes sustain us, even when they are ultimately unfounded.

The poem begins by challenging the conventional meaning of high hopes. Instead of dreams or ambitions that soar above, these hopes are “more / low-down, / close-to-the-ground.” The speaker describes them as something that could be touched, something present in an almost physical way. The comparison to a cat that rubs against one’s ankles, “even if he isn’t yours,” reinforces the idea of hope as an external presence—something that offers comfort but does not truly belong to the speaker. This image conveys a sense of borrowed affection, an attachment to something that was never entirely real, much like the feeling of mistaken belief in another person’s care or regard.

The shift in the poem occurs with the realization of truth. The speaker now understands that they had only imagined being liked, and with that knowledge, the quiet warmth of their hopes disappears. The cat, once an emblem of comfort and reassurance, now curls up in a bed of leaves, separate from the speaker, reinforcing the feeling of distance and loss. The domestic familiarity of the cat is replaced with an outdoor setting, suggesting that what was once an internal source of comfort has now moved beyond reach.

The final lines capture the weight of moving forward without the sustaining power of hope. The speaker still must “do / everything I had to do before,” but now there is no longer a “secret hum / inside.” This hum represents the quiet, underlying assurance that hope provided, a barely perceptible yet deeply felt presence that made the daily routine more bearable. Without it, life continues unchanged in its demands, yet it feels different—emptier, less buoyed by possibility.

Nye’s use of plain language and everyday imagery makes the emotional shift in “High Hopes” feel both understated and deeply personal. The poem does not dwell in overt sorrow but instead presents a quiet, matter-of-fact realization of loss—not of something tangible, but of the small, imagined comforts that sustain a person. In this way, “High Hopes” captures the essence of disillusionment: the moment when one understands that what once felt real was only ever an illusion, and yet, that illusion was enough to make life feel fuller. The loss of that feeling, then, is not just the loss of hope, but of the quiet music that once played beneath the surface of daily existence.

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