Maya Angelou's Use Of Poetry During The Black Arts Movement

In Angelou’s memoir I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she reminisces on her past childhood experiences and memories of growing up in the south. She gives specific examples on how the world was then and how poorly her people were treated. She explains how and what she had to do to overcome various obstacles that crossed into her life and how it affected her in the long run. She also provides many examples of her positive and negative traits growing up and with these, she has learned many life lessons that contributed in developing the herself as an adult.

After reading the first two stanzas of the poem Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, in which the free bird is compared to the caged bird, it immediately evoked thoughts of the struggle of African Americans compared to the lifestyle of white Americans. I think Angelou uses metaphors and juxtaposition pointedly in her poem to convey the idea that the freedom of the free bird is a natural state of living and the knowledge the caged bird has of that life can not be undone by any amount of oppression, entrapment or limitation of opportunity. A line that is repeated twice in the poem is, “The caged bird sings a fearful trill, of things unknown but longed for still”. The caged bird continues to sing of freedom in spite of his imprisonment because he knows of freedom and desires to feel what it is like to be the free bird. Angelou shows that in her opinion that desire will always be expressed despite scary circumstances that might quell the spirit such as being trapped in the cage.

Maya Angelou conveys the theme of despotism of one’s dreams which may lead to the yearning of freedom and liberties, internally. The caged bird, compared to an African American slave, delineates its societal pressure “… grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream” (lines 26-27), by portraying how destroying the aspirations of one may immobilize their pursuance of freedom. The oxymoron between “dreams” and “nightmare” exclaims the desperation and hopelessness of the caged bird or slave by illustrating the light in dreams and darkness in a nightmare. These juxtaposed words relate back to the theme of despotism because it displays the caged birds desire for freedom and liberty. The past haunting the bird “shadow” demonstrates the caged

This poem revolved around human rights, freedom, prejudice and slavery based on the author’s background. This poem indirectly compared a caged bird and free bird to people in our society today. This poem portrayed a thin line between oppression and the cage in the poem; and freedom and sky for both birds. Even though, the poem compared and talked about birds; it literally actually described people in our society. The cage in the poem signifies different barriers, struggles, stumbling blocks and obstructions in life such as lack of education, discrimination, abuse, secrets and various traumatic experiences. “The caged bird that stalks down his narrow cage whose wings are clipped and his feet are tied.” On the other hand, the sky signifies wonderful

On the blog “Why Poetry Is Necessary” by Roger Housden expresses “This is why poetry can be dangerous as well as necessary. Because we may never be the same again after reading a poem that happens to speak to our own life directly. I know that when I meet my own life in a great poem, I feel opened, clarified, confirmed somehow in what I sensed was true but had no words for. Anything that can do this is surely necessary for the fullness of a human life.” I agree with this statement because when you find a poem that is speaking to you, you fall in love with it because you can relate to it and you feel open when you read that poem, it’s like reading your own life. Another statement from “Why Is Poetry Necessary” is “On my good days, I knew better, which is why I kept writing. I knew that great poetry has the power to start a fire in a person’s life. It can alter the way we see ourselves. It can change the way we see the world. You may never have read a poem in your life, and yet you can pick up a volume of Mary Oliver say, or Neruda, or of Rumi, open it to any page, and suddenly find yourself blown into a world full of awe, dread, wonder, marvel, deep sorrow, and joy.” This quote shows how poetry can change someone’s life. I was never a fan of poetry till I found poems I could relate to now, I feel that interest of feeling a flame when you read a poem that relates to your own story of life. Lastly, a

The meaning of this poem is that the poet knows the struggles of slaves and how they feel. Line 1 suggest that he knows what it feels like to be in custody, when one desires to be free. Lines 2-6 suggests all of the enticing things in the free world. Thus, making one want to be free. Nature is a beautiful and peaceful place, and to be free in it is a dream of one in captivity. The poet is using a caged bird to compare someone that is imprisoned. The second stanza suggests that he understands why imprisoned people fight and injure themselves to be free. Line 10 suggest that one desires to go back to where they once resided. Line 12 may be a reference to slavery. Or line 12 suggest that the imprisoned person is shaving flashbacks of when they

Most Americans believe that someone's freedom dictates their happiness; however, Maya Angelou, in “Caged Bird” suggests that someone's perspective is what really affects their attitude. The poem describes two birds, one boasts of a free bird who “leaps on the wind and floats downstream till the current ends” this bird has no worries except of the changing currents. When someone has no worries in their life they tend to overreact when something does not go their way. this shows that he has a slight negative outlook on life due to his very limited struggles. Later in the passage, Angelou describes a bird that is imprisoned yet “sings of things unknown but longed for still” and in vain for “sings of freedom. “ His perspective or his origins

In Maya Angelou’s famous poem “I Know Why The Caged Bird sings” a really great woman that survived The Great Depression and lots of wars. She was an incredible african american woman, it was really hard for her to survive those wars because not only she was a woman but because she was a “Black” woman. Back then mostly everybody was racist to blacks, that’s probably the reason she made the poem “I know why the caged bird sings”. The caged bird connects with the main character Odessa, it connects with her because she is a black woman and she was stuck back when they had the civil rights movements. She was also there when the bus boycott had began, it also connects because she was a maid and the family she worked for did not like her at all because she was black.

When one feels caged, they are feeling as though they are trapped in their own negative feelings, telling themselves that because of their past failures, they can only talk about how they can’t accomplish anything. This is the case in the poem, Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou, in which it states, “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(Angelou)” This means that the free bird, who may be described as someone who has it all, or has had little to no experience with devastating failure. On the other hand, the poem states, “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. (Angelou)” This differentiates from the free bird, because the caged bird is described as one who is being restricted into his own limits, basically. One of the things holding him back is his own experiences, while the free bird wonders what is on the other end of the spectrum, as he is handed “fat worms” and is greeted by soft winds. The poem written by Maya Angelou is supposed to show perspective, on one end the bird is thought of as free, with no

Imagine reaching for the sky, and actually being able to touch it. In the first stanza in the poem, the author compares a free bird to the white population during times of discrimination. In the first two lines, the author says," The free bird leaps / on the back of the wind…" (lines 1-2). The author is talking about how whites thought they were better than other races. In line four it says, "…till the current ends…" describes how no opportunities were left for the blacks (line 3). The author gets across how the free bird, which is a metaphor for the white race, has no problems. In the seventh line she talks about how the free bird claims the sky. It talks about the freedom of flying, and of being able to make decisions for yourself. It also shows how the white race has the boldness to unfairly own and govern society.

As the late great William Arthur Ward would state “Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records” (Ward). Throughout the novel “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” by: Maya Angelou, she illustrates Marguerite combating society from a disadvantaged position. Set in the United States during the time of racism and segregation towards the black community, the novel displays the contrast in Maya’s upbringing in Stamps, St. Louis to San Francisco and her constantly changing development and maturity in herself through her effectiveness to conquer difficult situations. Maya Angelou uses symbolism in the form of the caged bird to represent her position in these difficult situations, such as dealing with racism/segregation, the influence of her family, and also facing her sexuality during her childhood. Facing adversity, Marguerite’s fight against society, illustrates Angelou’s theme that when faced with adversity in life, the ability and effectiveness to deal with these problems matures one’s character.

In her poem, Angelou uses contrasting tones to describe a free bird and a caged bird, analogous to a free man and an oppressed man. She writes that the free bird “names the sky his own” (Line 26) and that “a free bird leaps/on the back of wind/and floats downstream” (Lines 1-3). Angelou sets up her analogy by portraying the idyllic life the free bird lives, as it floats from one breeze to another, and has near-infinite resources. When discussing the free bird, Angelou uses terms

In the poem the free bird lives wistfully and free, but the cage bird lives behind metal bars raging for freedom. Maya gives us details and clues about how the birds feel and live. In stanza three lines twenty through twenty three the poet uses repetition to show us how the dark, depressed bird only longs to be free like the wistful bird. The bird expresses its feelings through singing on a hilltop. It says, “...on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.” It repeats the same lines in stanza six lines thirty-six through thirty-nine. Also in the poem, Maya used symbolism to convey how the dark bird is in oppression, stuck behind closed doors, and unable to free itself. In stanza five lines twenty-seven through thirty it says, “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.” Overall, Maya Angelou revealed her story and how she felt through the intricate words of this poem. Her emotions are evident and are described through the persecution of the bird in a very intriguing

‘Caged Bird’ is a poem about a bird being held back in its cage as it watches another bird fly freely through the sky. This poem could mean numerous things, but I believe this poem is about someone fearing the unknown. Of what would happen if they left their cage, their safe place. But they can’t help by being curious what their freedom could be. So, they’re tied back by their own fears. Too scared to open their wings and fly away. Perhaps from past experiences, or anxiety building up over their time in the cage. “but a bird 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”. They let the unknown tie their feet and clip their wings, but their envy of freedom still drifts along with their fears, so they open their throat to sing. Even how angry they get with their fits of rage, they’re too scared and too damaged to overcome their fears of what they don’t know. Perhaps someone can change their fears. Warn them so they can morph and overcome them.

Both Angelou and Afrika contrast the situation of an African-American and a white person, conveying the emotions caused by racial discrimination, segregation, to well as making the reader empathize and understand an African-American in the setting of their poems in hopes of spreading their message across, as both poets express that the whites in power usually don’t care, nor are they able to empathize. ‘Caged Bird’ explores the impact of racial inequality by using an extended metaphor and contrasting the situation of two birds to make the reader understand how the cage bird feels, and shows what opportunities African-Americans