I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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.
Analysis
The symbolic meaning of this poem is that the caged bird is a symbol for a person who feels like their trapped and longs for freedom. The poem consists of 6 stanzas with each one made up of a different amount of verses. The 1st stanza doesn't have any type of rhyme. The 2nd stanza has end rhyme and it's: ABCBDEF. The 3rd stanza's end rhyme is: ABCBDBDE. The 4th stanza's end rhyme is: AABC. The 5th stanza's end rhyme is also AABC. The 6th stanza is a repeat of the 3rd stanza so its end rhyme is also ABCBDBDE. There are three sets of true/perfect rhymes and they are: cage & rage (2nd stanza) trill, still & hill (3rd and 6th stanza) and screams & dreams (5th stanza). Breeze & trees (4th stanza) are off-rhymes/slant rhymes. The imagery used in this poem is sight imagery from ''dips his wings in the orange sun rays'' (1st stanza) and sound imagery from ''the caged bird sings with a fearful trill'' (4rd and 6th stanza).
The mood of the poem is sad because it's about a sad subject which is that the caged bird is trapped (person who feels trapped). The point of view is 3rd person omniscient. Personification is used for ''his bars of rage'' (2nd stanza) because bars can't have any emotions like humans do, ''grave of dreams'' (5th stanza) because graves are for dead people and they can't dream like humans do and ''shadow shouts'' (5th stanza) because shadows can't shout unlike humans who can. Repetition is used because ''his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing'' are in the 2nd and 5th stanza. Also ''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'' is repeated twice as the 3rd and 6th stanza. I think the poem is a confessional as it could've been written based on personal experiences/memories. I'd say that the title ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' made it pretty obvious that the poem was going to be about why the caged bird sings, which it was.