It is basically a book in which she has mention her life struggle racism she faced from her childhood

being an African American in America.

The poem gives expression to the feelings of these black Americans, rather of all the oppressed people in
the world. Obviously, it deals explicitly and implicitly with the problems related to race, gender, slavery
and freedom. The poem has universal appeal. The poem is both simple and complex. Its underlying
concern for freedom is simple to understand, but its structure being metaphorical is a bit difficult to
decode, unless you have a clear background of the circumstances in which African-Americans continue
to live.

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.

A free bird dips his wing in the orange sun rays (The free bird has the right “to claim the sky.)

Open its winds flying towards the sky and sun rays touches its wings.

The bird "can seldom see through / his bars of rage (In this way the bars are a metaphor for the anger
that traps the bird and keeps it from being free)
The “bars of rage” are a metaphor for the feelings of people who are bound by slavery, ignorance, and
prejudice
A bird inside the cage has no wings to fly because they are clipped and his feet are tied. He cannot go
anywhere so he can use his mouth only which is free to sing. It reminds us of the poet’s own life in which
she faced so much but kept singing poems.

A song travels from place to place so the song of the caged bird can also be heard in distant hills. It
means, her claims for freedom through her poetry are now known in distant places too.

Alternatively, the poet speaks of a caged bird who can never act on his dreams. His dreams remain
dreams without any fruition into reality. He stands on the grave of his own dreams which died out slowly.

A caged bird is afraid of its own shadows. His dreams are now turned into nightmares and his shadow
reminds him of that.

There is still hope because his tune is traveling across distant places and everyone is noticing because he
sings of freedom.

The caged bird is seen to be angry with its situation. It desires with all its heart to escape its plight. But
the caged bird cannot see beyond his cage.

Message: Caged Bird’ expresses the importance of freedom.

Metaphor: In Maya Angelou’s ‘Caged Bird,’ the poet uses two bird metaphors. The free bird
symbolizes white Americans or all free people who enjoy equal rights. The caged bird is a metaphor
for/symbolizes oppressed Black Americans who are kept captive through racist policies.

The “bars of rage” are a metaphor for the feelings of people who are bound by slavery, ignorance, and
prejudice

Symbolism: caged bird symbolizes the confined and oppressed African American community in the
United States.

Irony: occurs when an outcome is different than expected. For example, it is ironic that the free bird
isn’t singing, but the caged bird is.
While the free bird enjoys the full sky, the caged bird rarely even gets a glimpse of the sky. She claims
“his wings are clipped, and his feet are tied.” Text from her autobiography reveals that Angelou often felt
this way in life. She felt restricted from enjoying the freedom that should have been her right as a human
being. The speaker then reveals that these are the very reasons the bird “opens his throat to sing.”

'Fat worms' signifies all the opportunities that a free bird has. It can find its food at every door
represented by 'dawn bright lawn' which is an intensive imagery showing all the endless possibilities of a
free bird.

That bird “stands on the grave of dreams.” This reveals the author’s feelings about her own dreams. She
has so many dreams that have died because she was never given the freedom to achieve all that her
white counterparts could. Discrimination and racism made up her cage, and although she sang, she felt
her voice was not heard in the wide world but only by those nearest her cage. The second line of this
stanza is not only dark but even frightening.

She feels that Black Americans wrote and sang and danced and cried out for the freedom they deserved,
but they were only heard as a distant voice. Yet, this would not stop them from crying out for freedom
and equality because they knew they were made for freedom, and they would not relent until they were
given their rights as human beings to enjoy the freedom they were created to enjoy.

Summary:

Describes the experience of two different birds, one free and one caged.

The free bird flies around the wind currents, feeling like the sky belongs to him. On the other
hand, the caged bird can barely move in its prison. It’s angry and frustrating. Its wings are
clipped, and its feet are tied together. All it can do is sing fearfully of what it wants and does not
know. It sings for its freedom, and everyone, even far distant, can hear its song.

All the while, the free bird is focused on the breeze, the sounds the trees make, and the words
in the ground he’s planning on eating. Once more, the speaker reiterates the fact that the bird
feels as though it owns the sky. The poem concludes with the caged bird singing once more as
the poet repeats the third stanza in its entirety.
Theme:
‘Caged Bird’ is filled with powerful themes. These include racial oppression, freedom/captivity,
and happiness/sorrow. These themes are all wrapped together in ‘Caged Bird’ through
Angelou’s depiction of the two birds, one free and one caged.

The caged bird is an extended metaphor for the Black community in America and worldwide.
Angelou is alluding to the lived experience of millions of men, women, and children since the
beginning of time and the variety of oppressive tactics, whether physical, mental, or economic,
employed by those in power.
Black men, women, and children see “through…bars” while the free bird sores in the sky. The
bird sings from a place of sadness rather than joy to convey a broader history of sorrow.