"Caged Bird" Discussion Question

Scholars,

"Sympathy" and "I know Why the Caged Bird Sings" are two poems written by two African- American poets from two different generations. Both poets, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Maya Angelou, used the image of a caged bird to express themselves.

How does Dunbar's and Angelou's use of the caged bird metaphor compare and or contrast? Consider how the metaphor is used to communicate their message.

AM.


Sympathy
Paul Lawrence Dunbar 

I know what the caged bird feels, alas! 
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; 
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, 
And the river flows like a stream of glass; 

When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, 
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals-- 
I know what the caged bird feels! 
I know why the caged bird beats his wing 
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; 

For he must fly back to his perch and cling 
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing; 
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars 
And they pulse again with a keener sting-- 
I know why he beats his wing! 

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, 
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,-- 
When he beats his bars and he would be free; 
It is not a carol of joy or glee, 
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, 

 But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings-- 
I know why the caged bird sings! 



I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 
Maya Angelou 

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind 
and floats downstream
till the current ends  

and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays 
and dares to claim the sky. 
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage 

can seldom see through
his bars of rage 
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing. 

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill 
of things unknown
but longed for still 
and his tune is heard

on the distant hill 
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. 
The free bird thinks of another breeze 
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own. 
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream 
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing. 
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill 
of things unknown
but longed for still

and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom