Analyse caged bird

CAGED BIRD ANALYSIS TEXT THING

INTRO

“Caged bird” was written by Maya Angelou. This poem describes the experience of two different birds: a free bird and one caged.

STRUCTURE

Form

Free verse. 6 stanzas, 38 lines.

Pattern: stanza 1 and 2 (7 lines), stanza 3 and 6 (8 lines), stanza 4 and 5 (4 lines).

➡️adds musicality / rhythm to poem

Stanza 3 and 6 match word by word ➡️emphasizes on these stanzas

Meter

“a free bird leaps” / “and floats downstream” = iambic pentameter (unstressed-stressed) ➡️sense of rising (interpretation: rising up from their oppression)

Rhyme

No set of rhyme scheme however there are some:

e.g. “trill/still/hill” “bird/heard”

also use of rhymes w/ sounds but they’re not ‘perfect’:

“leaps/downstream” and “wind/ends” (long /ee/ and /nd/ sounds)

➡️weird interpretation found online, kinda complex and might be sus to add: the ‘sound’ rhymes are on the stanza for the free bird but the ‘perfect’ ones are for the caged bird = demonstrating free bird’s unrestricted life, rhyme scheme not boxing in the free bird.

THEMES

The most present themes in this poem are:

• racial oppression
• freedom/captivity.

Racial Oppression

extended metaphor: the caged bird = the African-American experience of racism in the United States

➡conveys the pitiless cruelty of the oppression

Random kinda related thing:

impacts of the oppression are both physical and mental:

e.g. “can seldom see through his bars” (line 10-11) = physical

       “bars of rage” (line 11) = mental

Freedom/Captivity (omnipresent theme)

The poet compares the experiences of a caged bird and a free bird which contrasts the injustice.

Free bird: flying in the sky, living➡ isn’t aware of/doesn’t think ab its freedom

≠

Caged bird: immobile, thinking and singing about freedom.

DICTION

Positive: “freedom, dawn, sings, wind, leaps and free bird”

Pejorative: “caged bird, trill, grave, shadow, and rage”

SYMBOLS

Angelou uses different characters / objects to represent things.

Caged bird (symbolizing captivity): African-American community

Free bird (symbolizing freedom): White community which has oppressed African-Americans

Cage: the oppression (slavery + segregation + subtle forms of oppression today)

LITERARY DEVICES

Repetition

Seen throughout the poem but mostly w/ continual references to the “free/caged bird”. Also, how Angelou repeats entire stanza 3 in stanza 6. ➡️ adds rhythm.

Alliteration

“but a bird that stalks”

“can seldom see”

➡️ effect on reader: ?

Metaphor

The entire poem is a metaphor. Poem not talking about birds but mankind.

Sidenote (don’t know where to put this/if its that important):

bird sings of “things unknown” = things unknown to the caged bird are enjoyed by the free bird ➡️ free people seem to have everything and live life to the fullest.

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