Commentary on Caged Bird

Commentary on Caged Bird

  • Submitted By: yeungksh
  • Date Submitted: 11/10/2008 2:42 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 721
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 1

This semi auto biographical poem ‘caged bird’ was beautifully written by Maya Angelou. The free bird makes a good comparison with a caged bird, talking about how the caged bird is trapped, and the free bird claiming its freedom. The caged bird seems to represents the black community, and the free bird represents the white community. My reading from the title alone portrays loneliness, restriction and a bird that is owned by someone.
Maya Angelou has used many interesting imageries throughout this poem. For example ‘Bars of rage’ which is applied to the caged bird, it is engaging because it contains two meanings, one of which is rage, meaning a feeling of violent anger, the other is rage which rhymes with cage, that makes bars of the cage, meaning each bars which makes up the cage. Furthermore, ‘grave of dreams’ is appealing because the dreams of the caged bird is dead, the dreams of freedom is gone. Moreover, the image of the free bird ‘floating downstream’ was significant for the reason that floating requires no effort floating down the stream, it gives the readers the sense of freedom and how much the bird cares. Along with the image ‘leaps on the back of the wind’, again the same idea of the freedom and the beauty of the nature.
`Shadow shouts’ is an example of personification and it is remarkable because the bird is so lonely even its shadow is shouting. Also, ‘sighing tree’ personifies the tree as a natural image, having a tree to sigh is quite interesting, just another image to symbolise the bird being bored. Moreover ‘sings of freedom’. Which contradict itself because birds singing are suppose to sound good to humans, and this image is used on the caged bird, so I think the singing of bird is meant to be a complaint from the bird
Maya have used many attention-grabbing diction to make this a good poem, the diction about the free bird and the caged bird makes a well comparison and sets a clear contrast. Words like ‘leap’ ‘float’ ‘dips’ ‘dares’. They...

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