Caged Bird student essay two

Explore the ways in which Maya Angelou uses language and other poetic devices to present her ideas in “Caged Bird”

“Caged Bird” explores freedom and lack of freedom, as do the poems “Monologue” and “Song to the Men of England” from the Songs of Ourselves collection. The idea of Imprisonment and restriction is explored in “Caged bird” and “Monologue”. In “Monologue” the “door” motif is repeated, which emphasizes the feeling of yearning to escape, a yearning also expressed in “Caged Bird”. Both “Caged Bird” and “Song to the Men of England” depict social injustice, Shelley considers social divisions between the rich and the poor. In “Caged Bird” there is a contrast between freedom and Imprisonment, the “free bird” and the “caged bird”, this symbolism can be applied to many forms of social injustices. The free bird has desire, wants more and can search for more, whereas the caged bird has dreams and all it can do is imagine and sing. The tone of the poem shifts between the caged bird and the free bird stanzas, you can sense anger and bitterness in her portrayal of the caged bird, also the way she present this contrast, between free and caged bird is for us to realize, how bad the situation of some people is. Maya Angelou really tries to convey the message that you have to look beyond yourself, and look at the world situation. Maya Angelou was born in 1928 and experienced the inequalities and injustices of the time when the poem was written, which greatly influenced the poem which explores the situation of black people in America. Angelou doesn’t use colour symbolism so we can just take this assumption from what we know about the author.

The structure of this poem is significant. This Poem is split into two parts, the caged bird and the free bird, the caged bird dominates the poem, there are four stanza’s for the caged bird and two stanzas for the free bird. This is because Maya Angelou wants us to focus on the caged bird. The free bird emphasizes for the reader how unfair life is for the caged bird, when compared to the free bird. Stanza three and six are a repeated refrain. This helps show how hard imprisonment is on the mind and on the spirit. Also the repetition of the stanzas emphasizes the dreadful situation of the caged bird and on how hard it is to break out of psychological imprisonment as well as literal. The pain of the oppressed is heard but will it be answered? Or, are the free too busy searching for themselves? The poem suggests that the free take their freedom for granted and Angelou seems to be calling got the free to start listening and contemplating the caged.

The poem’s diction is significant. Words representing the free bird are bright and upbeat, such as “leaps” which helps to get across the feeling of power and easy going life. “Floats” brings across the impression that the bird is resting on water which is moving, that his life is effortless, that someone else seems to be doing all the work. Could it be the cage bird? The caged bird is represented by gloomy and morbid words, “stalks” is telling is that he marches stiffly and angrily in his cage, that he is angry about something. “cage” means that the bird is imprisonment, unable to escape. When reading the poem we get a sense of a contrast between natural freedom and man made imprisonment. The diction which Angelou applies is closely linked to the themes, freedom and imprisonment, words such as “leap” and “float” portray freedom. “he names the sky his own” again contributes to the fact that free bird has a world of opportunities. Furthermore she applies the opposite of freedom to convey imprisonment. Such as, “bars” and “tied” express the idea of being locked up. The verb “opens” reminds us of this sense of freedom, which refers back to the free bird, the caged bird dreams and sings of what the free birds takes for granted. All he can “open” is “his throat”. Dreaming and singing is the caged bird’s only freedom.

Maya Angelou uses imagery extremely effectively in this poem, to develop ideas about freedom and imprisonment. Rage, an abstract emotion, is made concrete in the image, “Bars of rage”.
bars represent how the caged bird is emotionally imprisonment in his own anger, as well as literally. Angelou writes “a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams”. This metaphor represents the dreams of freedom, which will never be realised. “grave” is implying that his dreams are dead and have no future. The tone and emotional impact conveyed is bitter and despairing.

The Poet makes use of many grammatical features to make the Caged Bird poem powerful. To describe the free bird dynamic and energetic verbs are exploited, such as “leaps”; “floats”, “dips”, “dares”. The active construction is applied with these verbs, “a free bird leaps”. Verbs to portray the caged bird are much less active and are often qualified “can seldom see”. The passive construction is sometimes used, “His wings are clipped and his feet are tied”. The active construction is applied with the free bird to emphasize the feeling of freedom, movement and happiness. Whereas the passive construction and qualifications convey that the caged bird is unable to move, he is a victim of torture and imprisonment and has little or no control over his own actions. The use of the passive also raises questions. Who clipped his wings? Who tied his feet? Was the free bird responsible? Is that the reason why he is so ignorant and self centred? The conjunction repetition is used, “and” is repeated, mainly to emphasize what a great life the free bird has and to confirm almost the countless quantity of things he possesses. The reader feels that the free bird should give some of it to the caged bird. Who has nothing except his “grave of dreams”. The caged bird takes everything he has for granted and doesn’t stop to realise his fantastic way of life. “The free bird thinks of another breeze”, again this illustrates that he doesn’t appreciate what he possesses and that this bird thinks of more. This poem also uses the repetition of “but”, to make it clear that there is something negative, we are reminded of unattractive side of life, we are reminded of the caged bird.

Sound has an important role in the poem, emphasizing the theme of freedom and imprisonment. The assonance of “leaps” and “downstream” conveys a flowing feeling of the free bird. This is also a half rhyme, making it more fluid and not imposed which emphasizes the bird’s liberty. Alliteration draws our attention to a contrast of the world of the free and the caged. The free bird “dips” and “dares” in the “sky” and “sun, the caged bird “stalks”, and can “seldom see”. When you are free you “dare”, you have the courage to be confident in the world of opportunities represented by the “sky” and “sun”. Whereas the caged bird can “seldom see”, suggesting the opportunities are not even visible, there is no “sky” and “sun” in the caged bird’s world. Although the poem does not follow a regular rhyme scheme, some lines do rhyme, such as the rhyme of “narrow cage” and “bars of rage”. This full rhyme attracts our attention to the caged bird’s anger. In the chorus, “ill” words are repeated every other line, “trill”, “still” and “hill”, stressing the caged bird’s plea for justice and that his plea is barely heard on the “distant hill”.

The free and the caged bird both wish for more, illustrating that even the free are not completely satisfied but think of “another breeze”. Maya Angela implies that you should appreciate your liberty if you have it. You should consider other people’s conditions and listen to the tune of those unheard in society. Is this poem a plea for change attitudes? As a plea for change this is much more subtle than Song to the men of England by Shelley. Whereas Maya Angelou uses the symbol of the caged bird to raise consciousness of oppression, Shelley addresses the working men of England, in a rebellious call to stand up against the oppressor. Song to the Men of England is much more persuasive and emotive in the way it encourages the working class to stand up for their rights. Both poets show an awareness of how difficult it is for the oppressed to break free. Even though Shelley seems to tell the working class to rebel, there is a warning to what that rebellion might bring, if they “shake the chains” “The steel ye tempered glance on ye”. This means if you try to speak out your rebellion will be crushed through brutality and the weapons you made will be used against you. “Caged Bird” makes you think more thoughtfully and intellectually about social injustice. Freedom will only come when those who are free listen to the voice of who are not.