Caged
Bird
Maya Angelou (1983)
Poem - Background
Poet and time period
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Prior to Civil Rights Movement when there was segregation and inequality.
Poet was an African-American woman (marginalised / oppressed).
Angelou wrote her autobiography with a similar title. In her autobiography she talks
about the struggle of being a Black author and poet.
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She often felt like her words were not heard because of the colour of her skin.
In the poem, the caged bird is an extended metaphor for the Black community in
America (and around the world).
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The speaker is addressing inequality. While the bird/person may be physically trapped
(oppressed) his voice can still be heard and can never be taken from him.
Stanza 1 tone:
peaceful, joyful,
satisfied
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and
floats
downstream
Lots of nature imagery.
Connotations of freedom and
till the current ends
beauty. Allows reader to
and
dips
his
wing
appreciate the “free” bird in its
natural habitat
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
Personification
.
Hyperbole indicating
extreme confidence.
The free bird has the ability
to do anything.
Tone becomes dark
and unnerving.
Indicates a contrast /
shift from the first
stanza.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
the bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
Repeated to emphasise the distressing
condition of the caged bird and how he
longs for freedom. He is crippled and can’t
move BUT still has a voice and can be
used.
The free bird gets to
enjoy the whole sky. The
caged bird can hardly
even see it.
metaphor
This stanza is also
repeated later in the poem
(last stanza). It serves to
further solidify the
difference between the two
birds.
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.
Look carefully at the diction
used for each bird throughout
the poem.
Think about the connotations.
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 named the sky his own.
Echoes the idea presented in
line 7 of the free bird claiming
the sky.
Personification .
Another metaphor.
So many dreams have died
because the speaker was never
given the freedom to achieve all
that her white counterparts were
able to achieve.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare screams
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so
he
opens
his
throat
to
sing.
Personification
Desire for freedom
and expression
Discrimination and
racism made up her
cage (oppression).
Her cries are heard
BUT only as soft,
distant background
noise.
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.
Even though the caged
bird may not have
experienced true
freedom, deep down the
bird still knows it was
created to be free.
Again, hasn’t experienced it
but was created for it.
Caged Bird - general notes
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Form: no set rhyme scheme or pattern BUT some examples of iambic meter. The
poem combines freedom and restraint. The plight of the two birds is echoed in the
form.
6 stanzas: 2 for free bird, 4 for caged bird = caged bird’s experience is highlighted.
Themes: racial oppression, freedom, captivity, happiness / sorrow.
Speaker: addressing inequality and oppression.
Free bird diction: links to nature, has positive connotations. Free bird = person with
freedom and opportunity.
Caged bird diction: links to confinement, has negative connotations. Caged bird =
oppressed person with no opportunities.