Caged Bird (1983)

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The poem "Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou, first published in 1983 in the collection Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? A celebration of the strength and dignity of Black people. Angelou clearly evokes the agony and anger of one who is oppressed by comparing their misery with the carefree and deliberate indifference of one who is free, using a simple example of two birds, one free and one caged. In the title of her 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou first used the theme of the caged bird and originally took the illustration from the 1899 poem "Sympathy" by the black writer Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Poetry

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.

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.

(Maya Angelous, 1983)

Summary

The free bird flies around the waves of wind, feeling as if the sky belongs to it. However, in his jail, the caged bird can hardly move. It is disturbing. It clips its wings and binds its feet together. All it can do is sing of the things it needs and doesn't know, fearfully. It sings for its freedom and everyone can hear its music, even those who are far away. All the while, the free bird is concentrating on the wind, the sounds made by the trees, the words he's preparing to eat on the field. The speaker repeats, once again, that the birds sound like they own the sky. As the poet repeats the third stanza in its entirety, the poem ends with the caged bird singing once again.

Author

Maya Angelou was best known for her 1969 novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman, an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist. In 2005 and 2009, Angelou won many honors during her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding category of literary work (nonfiction).

Racism Issue

Caged Bird 'has strong themes packed with them. These include racial injustice, captivity/freedom, and happiness/sorrow. Via Angelou's portrayal of the two birds, one free and one caged, these themes are all wrapped together in 'Caged Egg'. For the Black community in America and around the world, the caged bird is an extended metaphor. Angelou refers to the experiences of millions of men, women and children since the dawn of time and the spectrum of coercive methods practiced by those in control, whether physically, psychologically or economically. Black men, women, and children see "through the... bars," while in the sky the free bird whistles.

Reference

  1. Angelou, Maya. "Caged Bird". Poetry Foundations, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird. Retrieved January 1 2020.
  2. Maya Angelou's Biography. February 28 2018. biography.com. Retrieved January 1 2020.
  3. Caged Bird by Maya Angelou. Retrieved January 1 2020.
  4. Caged Bird by Maya Angelou. Retrieved January 1 2020.