9-1+Book+Poem

** Caged Bird **  Table of Contents //Maya Angelou //

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.

  **Analysis**:In this poem, the two birds are being compared. The first bird is free to do what ever it wants, while the other is confined to a cage. The image that is voiced here is two people, one who has been free to do what he or she pleases, the other who is crying out to be free and has been plastered to to the floor for so long. The analogy of the birds to humans could be interpreted as discrimination. This poem seems to symbolize the difference between colored and white people. While the white man has been free all his life to claim things and do as he pleases, the black man has been confined to slavery so for so long, awaiting the moment he could claim his freedom. There are many examples in the poem supporting this thought. Clipped wings and tied feet are describing the enslaved African. Dares to claim the sky and thinks of the fat worms describe the free white.