"Caged Bird" is a poem by Maya Angelou. It consists of six stanzas, of which two discuss the thoughts of the "free bird" and four the thoughts of the "caged bird." The poem is written in the third person and the speaker is not identified. The point of view is omniscient. The speaker has access to the minds and interior thoughts of both birds. The birds are presented as highly anthropomorphized with both birds having human thoughts and feelings, albeit with the caged bird being the more humanized of the two. While the free bird sings of ordinary events in the life of birds, the speaker states:
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
While on the literal level, this poem compares and contrasts two types of birds, on a metaphorical level this is a poem about black people in the United States. The "caged bird" is a reference to slavery and to the white oppression of black people. The song of the caged bird is artistic creation, particularly the musical and literary creations, of African-Americans.
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