If you are wondering whether you might just be see a glimmer of light in the distance, and there is the possibility of better times ahead, then this is the page for you.

For me, all creative acts are gestures of hope. Artistic effort shows that we can construct something new and the world can become a better place. 

Here is a set of artistic pieces in which the intensity of hope expands from faint to vigorous.  Hopefully (yes, I do mean that), you will find one that expresses and extends your current level of hopefulness.    

Hope by George Frederic Watts (1886)

You can find this oil painting in Tate Britain, London.  It shows a blindfolded woman sitting on a globe, playing a lyre with only one string remaining. The background is empty save for a single tiny star.

It is deliberately ambiguous.  The woman may be exhausted and alone, there may be darkness all around her, her lyre may be broken almost beyond repair. Yet she still chooses to create music, to offer a faint glimpse of beauty and hope in her world. 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers, by Emily Dickinson (1861)

“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.

Listen and watch as Juliet Stevenson reads this poem here.  

You’ll never walk alone, by Gerry and the Pacemakers [click to listen]

For supporters of Liverpool Football Club like me, there are few more stirring and hopeful experiences than joining with 60,000 people at Anfield Stadium in singing the chorus of this classic song.     

 Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Tho’ your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone

Leningrad Symphony, [click to listen] by Dmitri Shostakovich  (1942).

Shostakovich’s seventh symphony became a rallying cry of defiance during the horrific 880-day German siege of Leningrad, when one and a half million people lost their lives. At its premiere actually in Leningrad in August 1942, it was played by an orchestra of starving musicians and broadcast by speakers throughout the city and to the German troops. It  infused the besieged citizens with hope. That concert was, arguably, one of the turning points of the second world war.

Land of Hope and Dreams [click to listen] by Bruce Springsteen

On his 2026 world tour, the indomitable Bruce Springsteen has re-purposed this inspirational track from his Wrecking Ball album as a forceful act of protest against the kleptocracy and vindictive intolerance of the current US government.   Unlike the Trump administration, this train has room for all of us.  

This train carries saints and sinners
This train carries losers and winners
This train carries whores and gamblers
This train carries lost souls
This train – dreams will not be thwarted
This train – faith will be rewarded

Hope is a gift you do not have to surrender. It is a power you do not have to throw away.  It is an axe for you to break down doors in an emergency. Hope is an act of defiance.