Oxymoron in I Know Why the caged bird sings

Maya Angelou’s poem, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, presents countless metaphors illustrating the boundaries in the life of an African American. The title of this poem sets the mood for the following stanzas which submerse the audience in a sea of emotion, such as feelings of sorrow for the bird and hope that the bird will one day be free. This poem was not intended for a specific audience, instead Angelou writes to anyone who is willing to listen. Angelou is the speaker of this poem and speaks out for all of the African Americans who have ever been in a “cage” because of their skin color and have longed to be free. This poem also incorporates various factors of movement. While the free bird is free to fly about the sky and go wherever it wants, the caged bird is held immobile. African Americans are either bound by the color of their skin or bound by the fiendish society around them. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings creates vivid images in the reader’s mind using various forms of figurative language and also impacts the reader’s soul using powerful structural elements.

Many structural elements create the foundation of this poem with which Angelou then built upon. First of all the structure of this poem is held together by rhythm, which creates balance within the stanzas and also heightens the audience’s emotional awareness. “But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage.” Lines 8-11 project the rage that the bird was feeling through the bouncing rhythm. This poem is also pieced together with different length stanzas. For example, it begins with three consecutive septets and then is followed by two quatrains and one final septet. Septets can also be classified as a rhyme royals, which is a stanza of seven lines written in iambic pentameter. Also the third and sixth stanza are the chorus of the poem, which is a collection of lines that are repeated with each verse for emphasis of the main idea. Within each stanza there is a rhythm of rhyme as well. For example “trill” in line 16, “still” in line 18 and “hill” in line 20 all form a rhyming scheme that makes the poem much more fluent. Angelou solicitously pieced this poem together to keep it steadily moving forward.

Once the foundation of the poem has been set Angelou builds on top of it with graceful figurative language. The poem is opened with complex syntax. Syntax is the way in which linguistic elements (such as words) are put together to form constituents (such as phrases or clauses). For example in lines 1-4, “The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends”. This daedal collection of words creates immediate intrigue for the audience and also creates beautiful imagery. Angelou paints a picture in the reader’s mind of a lithe bird leaping into the wind and then becoming one with the powerful current as it sweeps down the riverbed. Angelou uses beautiful word choice as well as clever usage of those words to describe how a free bird can fly and be one with the sky in lines 5-7. “And dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.” Her precise word choice in this phrase also creates imagery in the reader’s mind. The graceful bird that was pictured only seconds ago now becomes a free emboldened creature who ventures up to the vast sky to claim as its own. The free bird in this poem is meant to symbolize the white people who are free to do whatever they desire.

Also an oxymoron is used in line 26, “grave of dreams”, to symbolize the hopes and dreams of African Americans who are bound to a life in a “cage” because of the color of their skin. Then Angelou uses personification to give human characteristics to inanimate objects in line 23, which are the “sighing trees”. The trees cannot literally sigh, but the author gives them lively characteristics to symbolize the people who stand and watch on the sidelines of racial discrimination and don’t do anything about it. Lastly alliteration is used to benefit the smooth rhyme of this poem. For example in line 24, “worms waiting”, and in line 27, “shadow shouts”. All of this figurative language is carefully pieced together on top of the steady structure to create a flowing, galvanizing poem.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings creates vivid images in the reader’s mind using various forms of figurative language and also impacts the reader’s soul using powerful structural elements. Angelou ends every chorus with, “for the caged bird sings of freedom.” This is a very powerful quote because it describes how African Americans, or the “caged birds”, were singing their heart out for freedom. Despite all odds the “caged birds” did become free, and all African Americans are now treated as equals. The movement in this poem is not only about the physical movements or immobility of the bird, but it is also about moving the reader’s spirit. There are people who are like the “sighing trees” and choose to stand on the sideline, abstaining from any involvement in the issue. In this poem Angelou pleads with the audience to move their souls for the “caged” African Americans through her word choice and beautiful imagery. But in today’s society maybe the “caged bird” is someone who is trapped by social standards or bound by the cruel world around them. Maya Angelou originally wrote this poem for African Americans, but who is this poem for now?

Angelou, Maya. "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings." Poem Hunter. World Poetry Database, 3 Jan. 2003. Web. 1 Nov. 2013..

What are the literary devices used in the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?

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