I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is a free verse written by the American poet
and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is widely regarded as the
“Black Woman’s Poet Laureate.” Her reflections on the society and the times she
lived in are vividly expressed in her poetry.
Outwardly the poem “I know why the caged bird sings” or “Caged Bird” as it is often
interchangeably known, can be seen as a reflection on social disparity, and the ideals of freedom
and justice. Angelou, with the metaphor of birds, represents the inequality of justice seen in the
society of her time which differentiates between the African-American community and its White
American counterpart. Through her poem, she also illustrates the nature of both freedom and
captivity by creating a stark contrast between the two using birds as the metaphor.
The poem is divided into six stanzas, describing the state of two birds, where one
is free and ‘floats’ and ‘dares to claim the sky’, while the other is caged in his ‘bar
of rage’. The first and the third stanza shows the delight of the free bird
experiencing freedom, whereas the rest of the stanzas concentrate on the plight
of the caged bird. Angelou puts greater emphasis on the lamentable state of the
caged bird, and contrasts this with that of the free bird.
Although the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has no definitive rhyme
scheme, it creates the illusion of rhyme with the clever use of consonance. The
enjambment in the poem draws the reader’s eye to things of importance in a
blunt manner.
Stanza wise analysis : I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings
First Stanza
A bird tied to the ground represents an image completely opposite to its true
nature of flight. This represents the fact of alienation of the bird. But the most
important thing is that despite being in this utterly despondent predicament, the
caged bird ‘opens his throat to sing.’ That seems to be his only joy and
achievement in life.
Third Stanza:
Fourth stanza:
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.
The free bird on the other hand revels in his freedom. He enjoys flying through
the trade wind that blows through the trees. ‘Sighing trees’ probably refers to the
sighing sound made by the breeze while passing through the leafy branches. It
gives an indication to their lack of freedom, as the trees are also ‘tied’ to the
ground like the caged bird.
The free bird thinks of the fat worm that will be his food. With the wind in his
feathers, water and earth beneath him, and the whole sky with him, he feels
majestic in his freedom and calls the entire sky his own domain. By ‘names the
sky his own’ the poet’s wishes to express that the bird knows himself to be the
proprietor of this whole universe. Here the sky stands for the universe.
Fifth stanza:
In many ways the poem ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ can be considered
as the poet’s personal expression. Maya Angelou can be regarded as the caged
bird in the poem. A stanza in the poem is repeated to catch the attention to the
idea of the caged bird singing for freedom. The poem uses a metaphor to
compare caged birds to African Americans fighting for equality during the civil
rights movement.