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"Caged Bird" was published in Maya Angelou's 1983 poetry collection Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? The poem describes the opposing experiences between two birds: one bird is able to live in nature as it pleases, while a different caged bird suffers in captivity. Due to its profound suffering, the caged bird sings, both to cope with its circumstances and to express its own longing for freedom. Using the extended metaphor of the two birds, Angelou paints a critical portrait of oppression in which she illuminates the privilege and entitlement of the un-oppressed, and conveys the simultaneous experience of suffering and emotional resilience. In particular, the poem's extended metaphor can be seen as portraying the experience of being a member of the African American community.

“Caged Bird” Summary

A free bird flies on the wind, as if floating downstream until the wind current shifts, and the bird dips its wings in the orange sunlight, and he dares to call the sky his own.

But a bird that moves angrily and silently in a small cage can barely see through either the cage bars or his own anger His wings are cut so he cannot fly and his feet are tied together, so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings fearfully of things he does not know, but still wants, and his song can be heard from as far away as distant hills, because the caged bird sings about freedom.

The free bird thinks about another breeze, and about the global winds that blow from east to west and make the trees sound as if they are sighing, and he thinks of the fat worms waiting to be eaten on the lawn in the early morning light, and he says he owns the sky.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of his own dead dreams, and his dream-self screams from the nightmares he has. His wings are trimmed down and his feet are tied, so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings fearfully of things he does not know, but still wants, and his song can be heard from as far away as distant hills, because the caged bird sings about freedom.