“I know why the Caged bird sings” by Maya Angelou

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is written by American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, widely regarded as the “Black Woman’s Poet Laureate.” The poem uses a metaphor (of birds) to compare the plight of caged birds to that of African Americans fighting for equality during the civil rights movement.

While whites had all the freedom in the society, the African-American community people were not so lucky. The hardships blacks had to face in the society at that time are vividly expressed in her poetry.

Angelou’s poem uses metaphor to express the idea that freedom is a natural state and everybody longs for it during times of oppression or imprisonment.

In the poem, the free bird has power and feels the sky his own, which is indicative of authority, having rights and self-ownership.

Contrasted to the free bird, the caged bird is associated with darkness, pain, and fear. Reduced to an unnatural and lesser version of itself than the free bird, the caged bird cannot fly yet retains the desire to be free and to find self-expression (and, also, to claim self-ownership). The poem also highlights the emotional and psychological effects of being oppressed.

Because his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

Angelou provides a sense of limitation and marginalization through the metaphor of the bird in a cage. Importantly, through the poem, she suggests that the desire to be free will always be expressed, despite trying circumstances.

The poem has six stanzas that describe the lifestyle of two birds, where one is free while the other is caged. The first and the third stanza talks about the delight of being a free bird with freedom, whereas the other stanzas talk about the plight of the caged bird.

Full Poem

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.

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 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 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.