Sympathy

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Sympathy is a beautiful poetry written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This poetry was published in 2004 through The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Poetry

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!

   When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;  

When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,  

And the river flows like a stream of glass;

   When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,  

And the faint perfume from its chalice steals—

I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing

   Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;  

For he must fly back to his perch and cling  

When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;

   And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars  

And they pulse again with a keener sting—

I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

   When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—

When he beats his bars and he would be free;

It is not a carol of joy or glee,

   But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,  

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—

I know why the caged bird sings!

(Dunbar, 2004)[1]

Summary

The poet describes how the bird feels robbed of the pleasures of life because of this poem about the caged bird. This emotion makes him protest against it. A natural environment opens the poem. A bird begins to chirp and the river turns its way and the sun shines. The caged bird just feels underprivileged. He is led to protest by his sufferings and feelings of restrictions, but his protest goes in vain. He bashes himself helplessly at the bars and gets hurt. His wounds turn into scars, but liberty is not tasted by him. He chooses to sing for liberation after a relentless struggle. It is through the act of singing that the doors of heaven will be shaken by him. Therefore, he continues to sing and longs for the happier days of his life. The poem details the continuing attempts of the bird that does not lose hope.

Author

On June 27, 1872, Paul Laurence Dunbar was born to slaves from Kentucky who were freed. He became one of the first influential black poets in American literature, and was known internationally in collections such as Majors and Minors (1895) and Lyrics of Lowly Life Lyrics for his dialectic verse (1896). The dialectic poems, however, constitute only a small portion of the canon of Dunbar, which is full of novels, short stories, essays, and several regular English poems. In its entirety, in turn-of-the-century America, the literary body of Dunbar is considered an outstanding reflection of Black life.

Racism Issue

The poem was composed by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, a renowned African American poet. Sympathy is a literary work about slavery and liberation that is thought-provoking. It was published for the first time in 1899. The poem talks about brutal slavery, racial segregation, and social injustice against the African-American community practiced in American society. Dunbar stresses the value of liberty using the metaphor of a bird. Through the plea and struggle of a caged pigeon, he also identifies captivity. The main themes of this poem are hardship, racism, and social injustice. The caged bird does his hardest in the poem to win independence, but fails.

While he is captivated, he longs to see the same freedom in his life when he sees his fellow birds playing with the wind. He bleeds, gets scars, for the sake of democracy, but nothing happens. Dunbar illustrates the never-ending misery and tragic condition of the African American people through the analogy of this little creature. Their wounds have become scars, unlike this bird. They are robbed of natural and civil rights, and even in normal life they are incarcerated. They stood up for their rights after several years. Sadly, their words were choked by the supreme powers. They have never lost hope, despite facing hardships.

Reference

  1. Dunbar, Paul Laurence. 2004. Sympathy. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved January 1 2020.
  2. Sympathy Analysis. Literary Device. Retrieved January 1 2020.
  3. Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar: Summary and Analysis. Bachelor and Master. Retrieved January 1 2020.
    1. Paul Laurence. Dunbar, “Sympathy.” Poetry Foundations, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46459/sympathy-56d22658afbc0. Accessed 1 Jan 2021.