I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: About the poem
“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
The free bird leaps

on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
The opening lines show a bird leaping ‘on the back of the wind’ demonstrating
the freedom it experience to move about and glide freely through the air. It
hovers over a stream of wind and floats downwards to where the current of the
stream ends and the wind is calm. It dips its wing in the sea of orange sunlight.
The bird is shown in a state of great tranquility. It has the freedom to move about
wherever it desires. It is so utterly free and without restraints that it ‘dares to
claim the sky’. The whole firmament is his one big home.
Second stanza:
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.
Here, poet Maya Angelou contrasts the situation by presenting the image of a caged bird. The
caged bird tries to go after his cage in vain. The cage is narrow and its metaphorical bars are of
rage. The caged bird is seen to be angry with its situation. It desires with all its heart to escape its
plight. But the caged bird cannot see beyond his cage.
Its wings are clipped, that is, its freedom is taken away. Wings are associated
with flight, which in turn is associated with freedom. The words ‘his wings are
clipped’ mean that its freedom is forcibly taken away. It cannot fly even if it
desires to. Its feet are tied.
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:
The caged bird sings

with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The caged bird has a wavering voice. He is singing of freedom, something he
does not have. The idea of freedom is his dream, one he cannot achieve. So, he
sings about it. There is fear in his voice. He had never known what freedom
tastes like, but hopes to have it for his own. His voice can be heard from distant
places, on hills where it inspires others to dream of freedom. The caged bird
doesn’t sing of sadness, but of hope, inspiration and of freedom.
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:
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, inversely, knows that he is not flying in the sky, that he is not free, but a captive, a
prisoner. He thus ‘stands on the grave of dreams’ He knows his dreams of flying in a free
firmament, to experience freedom is futile. He had lost all hope of freedom. His shadow ‘shouts
on a nightmare scream’. It is more pitiable, more adverse than a nightmare. His wings are
clipped and feet are tied; there is only a little hope of freedom, and so the bird opens his throat to
sing. The bird wishes to travail against all adversities. There is a faint but kindling voice of hope
in his song.
Sixth stanza:
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.
This refrain recurring as a stanza justifies the bird’s stout determination to keep
going after his dream of freedom. Moreover, the caged bird chooses to sing as
this is the only freedom available to him, that he can enjoy without any restriction.
His wings are clipped, feet are tied, but his throat is not chocked yet. This is
something the poet have felt at heart and that’s why she uses the title ‘I Know
Why the Cages Bird Sings’.
This might be seen as the poet’s message to raise our voice, to express
ourselves even though the stronger wants to suppress the weaker and to never
ever give up, no matter what situation we are in.
*
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.

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: About the poem

The free bird leaps

But a bird that stalks

The caged bird sings

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

The caged bird sings

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