![]() It also refers to those who can sing like birds. The free bird represents those who live in this world free of discrimination, whether racial, social, or psychological. What does the free bird represent in Caged Bird?Ī comparison between the lives of a free bird and a caged bird is offered in Maya Angelou's poem. At the same time, she describes herself as being free yet choosing not to leave her branch shows that there is still hope for improvement even after years of imprisonment.Īngelou uses these different types of imagery to argue that imprisonment should not prevent someone from living a happy life. When Angelou says that she feels like a bird in a cage, we can understand how trapped she feels. This imagery is effective because it creates strong feelings in the reader. Finally, the poet expresses her desire to be allowed outside of her prison so that she can fly away to live out her days without restraint. Then, she compares herself to a bird that has been set free from its cage but chooses not to leave its branch. She begins the poem by describing how she feels like a bird in a cage. ![]() Maya Angelou uses imagery throughout Caged Bird to create a vivid picture of her thoughts during this time in her life. The poet also uses images of feathers, wings, and songs to show that even though the bird is trapped inside its cage, it can escape if only given the chance. ![]() The poem contrasts incarceration with freedom using the symbolism of a caged bird and a free bird, as well as their hopes and wishes. also form literary devices.CAGED BIRD IMAGERY Maya Angelou utilizes imprisoned and free birds to represent the hope of freedom. Moreover, the use of contrast in the form of two birds in completely opposite situation and the use of moods in ‘fearful trill’ ‘nightmare scream’, ‘bright lawn’, ‘grave of dreams’ etc. The poet has repeated the third stanza later in the poem to emphasize the distressed condition of the downtrodden people. ‘dips his wing’, ‘dares to claim the sky’, ‘name the sky his own’, ‘opens his throat to sing’, ‘sings of freedom’ etc. The poet personifies (applies human characteristics) the two birds when she says. ![]() ‘Orange sun rays’, ‘distant hills’, fat worms’ etc are examples of visual imageries while ‘sighing trees’, ‘nightmare scream’ and ‘fearful trill’ are auditory imageries. Internal rhyme is used in the fourth stanza - and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawnĪngelou has used vivid imageries. The slavery and segregation of the African Americans are compared to the condition of the caged bird and the free bird refers to the freedom enjoyed by the White Americans.Īlliteration (repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of nearby words) is used in places like -Ĭan seldom see through (repetition of ‘s’ sound)Īnd the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawnĮnd rhyme is used in the second, fourth and sixth lines of the third stanza - ‘trill’, ‘still’ and ‘hill’. That is why this poem is seen as an autobiographical representation of the condition she and her community was in. Maya Angelou was an active participant in the African American Freedom Movement. The free bird represents the privileged section of the society whereas the caged one signifies the underprivileged. The poet uses metaphor (an indirect comparison) when she compares wind to water. The words ‘downstream’ and ‘current’ make us think of the tides in a sea or ocean.Īgain, she uses metaphors in the use of two birds - “free bird” and “caged bird”. The poet has used a number of poetic devices in the poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”.
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