Thecagedbi

rd

BACKGROUNDOFTHEPOEM

“CagedBi r
d“waspubl i
shedinMay aAngelou's1983poet rycoll
ecti
on,Shaker ,Why, Don'
tYou
Sing?Itisbel
ievedthatMayaAngel os'
sbackgr oundasanAf ri
can-Amer icaninfl
uencedthe
contentofthepoem.CagedBi r
d"tell
saboutther est
rict
edmov ementt hatcomesal ivewithin
thecontextofthehor r
idAfr
ican-
Amer i
cancommuni tyexperi
enceintheUni tedStatesof
Amer i
ca, t
heenslavementofmanyAmer i
cansf orover300y earsbecauseoft hecoloroft hei
r
skin,t
heenact mentandinsti
tuti
onali
zedoff
icialandunof f
ici
alpol
it
icsthatal l
owssomer aces
mor ethanothers,suchastheJim Crowlaw

thatoppr
essesthebl
acksandensuresthatt
heynevergett
otheposit
ionofequalcit
izenshi
p
withthewhi
tes,
thedisenf
ranchi
sementanddel
iber
ateabuseoft
heirfundamentalhumanr i
ght
s,
amongmanyot hers.

I
tisint
hisat
mospher
ethatMay
aAngelouwri
test
oportr
aythestar
kreal
i
tyofl
i
fei
ntheUni
ted
St
atesofAmeri
cawherer
aci
sm i
ssust
ainedandi
nst
it
uti
onali
zed.

SUMMARY

May aAngelou's“CagedBirdexaminesaci rcumstancet hatsur roundst hecagedbi rdandthe

freebird.I
tisinarguablyknownthatthepoem wasi nformedf rom someoft her est
ri
cti
onsand
rejecti
onsMay aAngeloufacedbecauseofherski ncol or.Thepoem i soneoft hemostmov i
ng
andey e-openingpoemsev erwri
tt
en.Angel ou'
sautobiogr aphyt i
tled;"IKnowWhyt heCaged
BirdSings"hasasi milarti
tl
etothepoem.Thi sdenotest hesi gnifi
canceoft het i
tl
etoAngelou,
asi twassimi l
artothet i
tl
eofherentirelifestory
.Inheraut obiography ,shetal
kedaboutt he
struggleofbeingabl ackauthorandpoet .Thispoem met aphor i
callypresentsthenatureofthe
l
ifeofanav er
ageAf ri
canAmer i
can, i
nt heuni t
edstatesofAmer ica.Theent ir
epoem of38l i
nes
i
nsi xstanzascompar esandcontrastst wobi r
ds-onet hatisf reeandt heotherthatiscaged.

Thefreebir
dfli
esaroundthewi ndcurrents,f
eel
ingast houghtheskybelongst oitwhi
lethe
cagedbirdcanbar
elymov eeveni nit
spr i
son.Theangerandt hefrustr
ationofbeingcagedeven
wit
hclippedandti
redfeetthatalli
tcandoi stosingfearful
lyoft
het hi
ngsi twantsanddoes
notknow.Itsi
ngsforit
sfreedom andev eryone,
ev enthosefardi
stant,couldhearit
ssong.

However,t
hesebi r
dsar easy mbolicrepr
esentati
onoft hetwomainracialgroupi
ngsi
nthe
Uni
tedStates,t
hewhi tesandt heAfri
canAmer icans.Thebirdt
hatisfr
eeandwhosemov ement
i
snotrestr
ictedrepresentsthewhi t
esintwentieth-
centur
yAmer i
canwhi l
ethecagedbir
d
metaphori
call
yrepresentstheAf r
icanAmerican.

Weseet hesecontr
ast i
ngandobv i
ousprejudi
cesal lt
hroughthel
inesoft hepoem,thefreebi
rd
i
sfocusedont hebreeze,thesoundsthetreesmake, thewormsint hegroundhe'splanni
ngon
eat
ing.Thepoet'
sper sonarei
terat
esthefactthatthefreebir
dfeel
sast houghitownst hesky
.
Butthecagedbirdstandsont hegrav
eofdr eams.Thepoem concl udeswi t
hthecagedbi r
d
si
ngingoncemor e,asthepoetrepeatsi
nt helaststanza.
THEMES

Oppr
essi
onandDi
scr
imi
nat
ion

Thecontrast
ingimageoffreedom andbondager unst
hroughthepoem "CagedBird".Thepoem
descri
besa"cagedbird"
-abirdthatistrappedina"nar
rowcage"withli
mitedmobilit
y,onlyabl
e
tosingaboutthefr
eedom ithasnev erhadandcannotattai
n.whil
eintheFirstandfourth
stanzas,
weseeabi rdbli
ssful
lyenjoyingitsf
reedom i
nthegreatout
doors.

Thiscagedbi rdisanext endedmet aphorf ortheAf ri

canAmer icancommuni t
y'spastand
on—goi ngexper i
enceofr ace-
basedoppr ession.Itcapturesthei r
resisti
bleanguishand
cruelnessoft heoppressionofmar ginalizedcommuni t
iesasitisrelatedt otheemot ional
sufferi
ngoft he"cagedbi r
d".Thef reebi rdr epresentsthewhiteinAmer icansociety.In
l
ines,10—11t hepoem st atesthatthecagedbi r
d" canseldom seet hroughhi sbars,"which
seemsatf i
rstasifthepoem i sgoingt oexpl ainhowbei ngint hecagel i
mi tsthebird'
sl i
neof
sight.Butinstead,t
hepoem f urtherdescr i
best hebar sasbeing" barsofr age"—thebi r
di s
i
mpr i
sonedandcer tai
nlythephy sical barsoft hecagel i
miti
tsl i
neofsi ght,butthebirdcan
"seldom see"becauset hesecondi ti
onsmaket hebi r
dblindwithrage.Theoppr essionoft he
cagedoesn' tj
ustkeept hebirdcapt i
ve; thecapt ivi
tychangest hebird,andi nsodoi ngr obsthe
birdofitsveryself.

Musi
casaChannel
ofEmot
ion,
Act
ion,
andI
ndependence.

"CagedBird"act
ivel
yandexpli
cit
lydebatesthenoti
onthatt
hemusi calexpressi
onofan
oppressedgroupisasignofcontentment.Thepoem asser
tedthatMusicisaf orm oft
herapy.
Emot i
onssuchasanger ,
pai
n,love,andfearareli
kel
ytr
ansfor
medi ntodiff
erentfor
msofar t
suchaswr it
ing,
dancing,
act
ing,singi
ng,etc.I
nli
nes19and35, Thecagedbi rd'
tuneisheard'
whichsimplydenotesachannelthroughwhichthecagedbi
rdcanpur geitsemot i
on.

Fr
eedom v
s.Capt
ivi
ty

Thepoem " CagedBi rd"compar esandcontraststheexperi

enceofaf r
eebi rdwiththatofabird
heldincaptivi
ty.Whilepartoft hiscontr
astismeantt oconveytheinj
usticef or
cedupont he
capti
vebi r
d,thecompar isonal soall
owst hepoem t oexpl
orehowaf reebei ngthi
nksandact s,
andtoar guethatfreedom isanat ur
alstateforli
vingbei
ngs.Asanext endedmet aphorforthe
hist
oricaloppressi
onofAf r
icanAmer i
cansintheUni t
edStates,
theideat hatfr
eedom isa
human' snaturalst
ateofexi stence,fur
ther

demonst r
atesthecruel
tyandinjust
iceofrace-
basedoppr
essi
onintheUni
tedasembeddedi
n
Lines1-38.Thecagedbird'
slongingforf
reedom al
sodemonstr
atesthebl
ackcommunit
y'
s
resil
i
enceagainstt
hisoppression.

Thecagedbir
d, unli
ket
hefreebir
d,i
scompl et
elyimmobi li
zed-
notonlyi
st hebir
dhel dcapt
ivei
n
acage,buti
tswi ngsar
ecli
ppedanditsfeetti
ed;thus,
ev enifthebi
rdweret oescapehiscage,
hewouldsti
llbeunabletomov eorf
ly.Thecagedbird,beingti
edandclippedrepresenthow
oppr
essioni
mpr isonsi
ndiv
idual
sandcommuni tiesandal sohowitseekstolimitthem i
nway s
thatcanthenbeusedtoj
usti
fyt
heiri
mpri
sonment:f
ori
nst
ance,abi
rdwit
hcli
ppedwi
ngsand
boundfeetcoul
dn'
tpossi
blysur
viv
eoutsi
deacage,sot
hepersonwhoputitt
her
ecanthen
j
ustif
ykeepingt
hebirdi
nthecagetokeepitsaf
e.

Theov erwhelmi
ngandcr ueldemonst rati
onofoppr essioni
sal soar esultofthei
mmobi l
i
zed
stat
usoft hecagedbird.Abirdt hati
salreadycageddoesnotneedt oalsohav eit
swi ngs
cli
ppedori t
sfeetti
ed-i
nthispoem, t
hebirdissubjectedtoallthree.Thepoem, t
hen, servesas
anuancedanddamni ngportraitofallf
ormsofr acism anddiscri
mi nati
on, andi
npar ti
cularof
theracism andoppressi
onper petrat
edbyt heUnitedStatesagainstAf ri
canAmer icans.

Fr
eedom asaUni
ver
sal
andNat
ural
Right

Ast hepoem, "CagedBi r

d"explor
esthebehav iorofthefreeandt hecapti
ve,i
talsomakescl ear
thatt hedesi
reforf reedom i
sanor gani
c,universali
mpulset hatcannotbeboundordest roy
ed.
Thepoem st atest hatthecagedbirdsings"oft hi
ngsunknown/butl ongedforsti
ll
."The
speakert henclari
fies:"t
hecagedbi r
d/si
ngledom. "Becausef r
eedom isathi
ng" unknown"tothe
cagedbi r
d,t
heimpl icati
onisthatthecagedbi rdwasnott akenfrom hisnat
uralenvir
onment ,
butr atherwaslikelyborninhiscageand

hasnev erknownany t
hingelse.Thecagedbi rdhasneverknownfreedom butsti
l
lunderst
ands
whatfreedom is,andyearnsforit.Thattheunderst
andingoff
reedom seemst obeuniv
ersal
suggeststhatfreedom i
sthenat ural
,biol
ogical
stateofli
vi
ngthi
ngs.

STRUCTURE

'
CagedBi r
d'byMay aAngel ouisasix-stanzapoem thatissepar
atedint
ostanzasthatrangein
l
engt h.Thepoem i swrit
teninfreeversewhi chmeansi thasnorhymeschemeormet r
ical
patternthatunit
esal lt
heli
nes.Howev er,
therearesomeexampl esofaniambicmet er
.This
addst otheov er
allmusicali
tyofthepoem.l ambsar ealsogeneral
lyr
eferr
edtoas" r
isi
ng"feeti
n
thatthesecondsy l
labl
eisstressed.Thisplaysintothecont
entofthecagedbirdandthefree
bir
d.Addi t
ionall
y,onemustt akenot eoftheinstancesinwhicht
hepoetmakesuseofhal f-
rhyme.

LI
TERARYDEVI
CES

Repet
it
ion.

Theuseofr epet
it
ionisseenthroughoutt
hepoem butmostprominentl
yinthestruct
ureoft
he
stanzasandtheconti
nualref
erencetothe"f
reebir
d"and"cagedbir
d".Oneofthebest
examplesisseeninthesixt
hstanzasinwhichthepoetr
epeatstheenti
rethi
rdstanza.

Al
l
iter
ati
on

All
it
erat
ionisanot
herf
orm ofrepeti
ti
onbutonet
hatissolel
yfocusedontherepeti
ti
onof
consonantsoundsatt
hebeginningofmult
ipl
ewords.Forexample,"
sun"and"sky
"attheendof
st
anzaoneand"
cage/can"i
nli
nest
hreeandf
ourofst
anzat
wo.

Enj
ambment

Enjambmenti sanimportantl
it
erarydevicet
hat'
salsoqui
tecommonincontempor ar
ypoetr
y.I
t
appear swhenapoetchoosest ocutoffasentenceorphr
asewithal
inebreakbeforeit
snatur
al
stoppingpoint
.Forexample,t
het r
ansit
ionbetweenli
nesoneandtwoofthefi
rststanzaaswell
aslinesthr
eeandf ourofthesecondstanza.