I know why the caged bird sings Analysis

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

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Weather you were in the past, or in the present now, you most likely know about racial segregation. Maya Angelou’s poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is a good representation of this. It’s the separation between the colors of people’s skin in everyday life. Those things include racial signs such as drinking fountains, theaters, and bus stations. Though it is not as bad as it used to be it still occurs. “Angelou’s words speak out to an all African American audience to relate to, understand, and share the feelings of oppression and segregation, and feelings of jealousy toward the white race. Maya Angelou also speaks to an audience of mixed races many of us can identify with her voice,” (Paula). The reader should notice that she is not just talking about a bird, however the way she wrote it makes it seem that way. The poem represents racial issues through the use of a bird, the reader should see this because she uses metaphors throughout and she talks about a caged bird and a free one.
Angelou has a great way of using metaphors throughout her poem. The poem itself is a metaphor for enslaved African Americans. In the opening lines of the poem, Angelou compares the “wind” to being like a creature that can hold a bird on its back. She also compares it to a “flowing stream of water, with that being said, the wind represents “the white tradition in history, and white race superior to black,” (Vicki). “Breeze” and “fat worms” demonstrate that most of the white society cares more about their wealth and very little about the black community's oppression, and also represents hope and opportunity for the free bird (white race) to name the world as his own. “His wings are clipped and his feet are tired,” represent the advantages that whites have over blacks due to their skin color. The metaphor overall shows that the free bird has that advantage, but the caged bird stands, leaps out on faith, and it came to pass that the caged bird sings of freedom at the end.
In her poem, the caged bird represents the black race and the free bird represents the white race. “A caged bird can be interpreted as the black race being held back from freedom by their own skin color. The free bird is the white race retaining freedom and their aversion toward blacks,” (Vicki).

| Posted on 2009-06-25 | by a guest

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awesome analysis
but id like to add
the "stalks down his narrow cage"
can mean the limited amount of possibilities the caged bird has got...
also ... a lot of frustration is shown in the poem ...
anger and hopelessness..
hopelessness because of the "grave of dreams"
frustration is in many places
but one is the
"his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream"
clippd and tied are just other thing to show his restriction
- ig(e)ar

| Posted on 2009-06-01 | by a guest

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 Maya Angelou's poem, Caged Bird is a poem that represents many ideas, themes, and thoughts. This poem states that there are two birds, one trapped in a cage, and the other in free and flying in the sky. The trapped bird is an African American man or woman, while the free bird is a white man or woman. The poem is portraying the relationship between an African American person and a White person. Maya Annabel is explaining the feelings of racial discrimination, segregation, and domination. The poem describes how she was the bird that was trapped and tied up and unable to reach freedom.

| Posted on 2009-03-30 | by a guest

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I love Maya Angelou! aka Marguerite Annie Johnson! She's an amazing women! One day i hope to meet her. I've done research on her poems, and "Phenomenal Women", i think, is the best i've read. It describes herself. The poem "I know why the Caged Bird sings." is a poem about racism. I love it too. :) -Edith Sandy Nicholson from: Alaska!

| Posted on 2009-03-23 | by a guest

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I think that there is more to the poem. the free bird represents a white person and the caged repersents a colored person. many of the terms intensifys the poem and gives it a intense and sad mood. but i also think its bout racism in the world today with muslims chinese hindus and still colored. in the old days it was hard but i thing its harder in the world today cause there are so many more religions and right when you meet new pepole you judge them from the start. i think that everyone is opressed in some way but the little things make it all the better and even if we are obressed we some thing like singing to make us feel free!!!!

| Posted on 2009-03-19 | by a guest

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"Caged Bird" is a poem about freedom. The free bird symboLizes a person from the white society, and the caged bird symboLizes a person from the black society.
In the first stanza, the free bird is described. "leaps", "floats", "dares","claim" are used to describe the free bird, which indicates how courageous, powerful and arrogant it is. The second stanza starts with a "But", which immediateLy awakens negative feeLings. The words used to describe the caged bird are "stalks", "clipped" and "tied", the bird is not able to do what it wants. Also, in the second stanza, unexpectedLy the caged bird "opens his throat to sing". This action is highly ironic, as normally you sing when you are happy, and we expect the free bird to do that. However, the song doesn't have a happy tune. It's a desperate cry for freedom. There's a description of the cage that the bird is in, "bars of rage". It shows simiLarities to being in a prison.
There are no descriptions of landscape from the caged bird, "of things unknown/ but longed for still". He can't see, he doesn't know. The free bird aLmost takes things for granted, "dips his wing/in the orange sun's rays". Nevertheless, the caged bird can appreciate them.
In the third stanza, "trill", "hill" and "still", "heard" and "bird" do rhyme. Rhyme tries to create a pattern, a neatness, containment. Perhaps like the cage that contains the bird that wants to break free. The bird's Life is repetent, maybe that's why there's a rhyme. Another pattern in the poem is between the stanzas: free bird, caged bird, refrain about caged bird; free bird, caged bird, refrain about caged bird. The refrain aLong with the phrase "caged bird" repeated in the beginning of aLL the stanzas which are about the caged bird, are for emphasis. It gives a feeLing of how desperate he is.
In the fourth stanza, the lines start to get Longer. This may be Linked to having more space to move, and therefore freedom- as it talks about the free bird. In the 3rd and 4th Lines, "lawn" and "own" are pararhymes, and "own" is Like a faint echo of the sound. In the 5th stanza, the Longer Lines may be Linked with the possibiLity of the bird being free. The words used to describe both the free and the caged bird aLmost sound the same, but they are different. Perhaps it refLects the two birds that are different whiLst the caged bird wants to be Like the free bird.
The themes in this poem are freedom, unfairness, sLavery and isoLation. It may be Linked with gender, individuaLs, aduLts Limiting the youth, raciaL inequaLity, someone in prison or sociaL oppression.

| Posted on 2009-03-08 | by a guest

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This poem is a representation of the racism and oppression that people still face in this day and age. It goes on to portray the importance of hope and freedom for anybody to live. The line
"But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream" demonstrates a resignation to fighting, because the caged bird is losing hope. His screams for help are now hollow echoes because long neglect and abuse has broken his heart.

| Posted on 2009-02-09 | by a guest

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The caged bird resembles the emotion and mental qualities of the black society. The "fearful trill" reflects the strikes and arguments held by the people, but on a distant hill where noone can hear them.

| Posted on 2009-02-02 | by a guest

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Ignorance is Bliss?
by AmiriAmani
Ignorance is bliss
But it depends on what you're ignorant about
That produces happiness
How you gonna be happy
When you runnin' 'round town with your hair nappy
But you know how to use a comb
You as disconnected as a phone without a tone
Wake yo ass up and act like you know "Why the caged bird sings"
Is it because he's imprisoned?
Hell no you big dummy
It because he knows how to let his freedom ring
"That's the sound of the men working on the chain-game"
And that will be the only clue
To allow you to know what you thought you already knew
Only few will know and understand the rules to this
The rest will remain fools and enlist
In the ignorance of true happiness
True happiness is not, not knowing what it is you need to know, but knowing what it is you need to know. For if you do not know what it is you need to know, then how will you know what it is you are to be happy about? - AmiriAmani

| Posted on 2009-01-18 | by a guest

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the poem compares a person with freedom to a person without. its saying that many people think that the caged bird (without freedom) sings from joy etc but its actually singing because it wants to be free. so basically, this poem is about freedom.

| Posted on 2009-01-12 | by a guest

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The message of the poem is very strong however the real beauty lies in the way the message is sent accross. first there is the noticible rhythm. It adds a lot of atmosphere to the poem. It creates and build up on the tension (refers to the africans). there is also use of half rhyme.. this gives the exact opposite feeling as the rhythm..the half rhyme gives a semse of lazyness and stops the flow (in reference to whites). moreover the maya does not simply talk about how the blacks are suffering. no, by comparing it with how much the whites have, that is when the reader actually realises the true misery and suffering the africans had to go to simply because of their skin color. Such is the beauty of the literary devices maya angelou uses..n in this her true awsome-ness is seen!!

| Posted on 2008-10-26 | by a guest

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ok who ever did the posting on 2008-10-18, your thoughts are awesome but would be better if i could understand more than just half of it! work on grammar and spelling man.

| Posted on 2008-10-24 | by a guest

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Here Maya compares the two birsds, the free bird which symbolises the whites and the caged bird which symbolises the blacks. in the first stanza the key words are "leaps, floats, dips and dares" these are all words which represents happiness and freedom. Things that onli the free bird is entiled to in the past. in the second stanza the key words are "stalks, bars of rage, clipped and tied" these are words describing uncomfort, no freedom, and sadness. which the caged bird has. den the caged bird sings because it is the onli way to reach fredom, it is singing for its freedom. in stanza 3 it says that the tone that the bird is singin on it is a sad and depressd tone, it sings for things that it has never experience but is desperate to... it sings so loud that it is heard all the way on a 'distnat hill'....distant hill can also mean that the hope that the bird is singing for it is still ver far.in stanza 4 it gose backk to the free bird who is thinging now of changing ins loaction we can noe this beacse it writs 'thinks of another breeze' the free bird can experience all the comforts the soft winds and the rich food. it leeds a very luxurious life. then back to the caged bird it writes "But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream" this tells us that the bird is not healthy it is sick and very thin. the last stanza is the same as the 3 one. this is because the writeer wanted to emphasis the point that yet hope is still far and nothing is changing...

| Posted on 2008-10-18 | by a guest

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This poem from Maya Angelou is written on the behalf of all the blacks (caged bird), who were the victim of slavery. The free bird which actually means the white people. she has used metaphors.

| Posted on 2008-08-14 | by a guest

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Maya Angleou share her thoughts about slavery, using metaphores she shows how the black people were mistreatd at that time, she indicates about how the black man have to work hard to reaxh his dream there is still something that is stopping him which is either slavery or discrimination.

| Posted on 2008-06-15 | by a guest

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While Angelou never mentions either race it is clear that she does so through the metaphors she uses to send the points she wants to get across to her audiences. Maya Angelou’s words speak out to an all African American audience. Her words are meant for this audience to relate to, understand, and share the feelings of oppression and segregation, and feelings of jealousy toward the white race

| Posted on 2008-05-22 | by a guest

.: :.

While Angelou never mentions either race it is clear that she does so through the metaphors she uses to send the points she wants to get across to her audiences. Maya Angelou’s words speak out to an all African American audience. Her words are meant for this audience to relate to, understand, and share the feelings of oppression and segregation, and feelings of jealousy toward the white race

| Posted on 2008-05-22 | by a guest

.: the poem :.

the poem talks about people. the caged bird is a black person, like in slavery. the free bird represents white people, the free people

| Posted on 2008-05-18 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.


| Posted on 2007-10-24 | by a guest