Caged Bird

Roxie Hildebrand
Period 3
Poetry Analysis 1

Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

Title: People often connect freedom to flying like birds.  A caged bird could be a symbol for a person who has had their freedom stripped away.

Poem:

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

(Paraphrased: Beings who are free can do whatever they please.  They see all the beauty the world holds)

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.

(Paraphrased: The bird that is bitter lives in a cage.  He is broken so that he must stay in his cage forever.  His injuries bind him to the cage so that he may never truly be free.)

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.

(Paraphrase: The caged bird might be scared, but it still hopeful.  He perseveres, knowing that one day he will taste 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.

(Paraphrased:  The free bird takes what he has for granted and explores at his own will.  He ignores the caged bird.  The caged bird is trapped in the dark where his own life seems worse than a nightmare.  When it seems like there is no way out, he continues to sing of hope.)

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.

(Paraphrase:  Even though we are scared, we must not give up.  Hope is the only thing that will keep us going when we have lost everything.)

Connotation:  This poem is about a bird who sings of being free.  Maya Angelou uses great imagery to describe how rich and fulfilling the free world is, but also to show how dark and aweful a world without freedom is.  She repeats the stanza 

"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." to put emphasis on how hopeful those who are caged should be.  Birds often symbolize hope.  This poem could be about slavery.  The caged bird sings and sings for freedom while the free bird who has more power ignores him and refuses to help.

Attitude/Tone:  The tone in this poem is very hopeful.  The poet describes the beauty of freedom in a way that tells the reader not to ever let it go.

Shift:  The shift is between the first stanza and the second.  It goes from describing freedom to describing the pain of being caged.

Title:  "Caged Bird" is linked to slavery.  Birds are beautiful, just as every human being is, and the use of the cage shows how they are no longer free.  The cage could be physical, but it could also be a mental disability or fear that is holding someone back.

Theme:  The themes in this poem are perseverance, hope, and freedom.