Poem Analysis: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

In her poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou relies on metaphor and juxtaposition to convey her theme. The poem itself focuses on comparing two birds, one that is free and one that is stuck in a cage. Throughout the poem, the only forms of punctuation come at the very end of the stanza, signalling it as a continued thought. This mimics the often light-hearted nature of birds, as they have the freedom to do as they please. The freeverse of this poem further develops this, as while Angelou chooses to repeat some structures and patterns throughout the poem, she is not constrained to a specific, set sequence. As such, through the bird’s stories, she demonstrates that innate natures and freedoms of a creature cannot be trampled down, no matter their circumstance.

To begin, Angelou addresses the state of the free bird. In the first stanza, she chooses to utilize soft verbs like “leaps,” (1) “floats,” (3) and “dips” (5) to focus the reader’s attention on the bird’s reliance on flight. These verbs also build on the natural setting by comparing the bird’s movements through the air being similar to swimming in a river, as he is carried “downstream / till the current ends” (3-4). As such, Angelou blends in more elements of nature than a bird would usually experience, demonstrating the vastness of the world around him th. Her use of playful and leisurely words also contribute to the overall tone, drawing out the imagery of the “orange sun rays” (6) he basks in, to