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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou   
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Maya Angelou
#1
on top 500 Poets
Maya Angelou
(April 4, 1928)
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  I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings


# 9
on top 500 Poems

User Rating:

9.0 /10
(652 votes)



  The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
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 fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an 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.


Maya Angelou

Submitted Date Friday, January 03, 2003
Submitted Date Tuesday, May 31, 2011



Read poems about / on: freedom, sky, sun, wind, dream, tree

<< prev. poem Poems by Maya Angelou : 7 / 27 next poem >>
 
  Comments about this poem (I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou )
 
Sagar Shelar (2/11/2012 5:41:00 AM)
0 person liked.
0 person did not like.
Amazing poem. Freedom is freedom. Flying in the sky gives more pleasure than living in a golden cage.
Joey Cunningham-lennox (2/7/2012 12:48:00 PM)
3 person liked.
8 person did not like.
I don't understand why this is aparently so good...I gave it a 5.
Nasarudheen Parameswaran (2/4/2012 11:59:00 AM)
6 person liked.
5 person did not like.
Fervent yearning to get liberty is well delineated.
Carissa Sanders-harrod (1/31/2012 5:02:00 PM)
16 person liked.
3 person did not like.
the poem to me dipicts the trials and situations people put themselves in everyday by making choices of being caged and letting other people make their fate and decide their freedom iwith deciding thisyou loose it and long for it to return.
Arindam Bhattacharya (1/30/2012 2:25:00 AM)
11 person liked.
6 person did not like.
The Meditation for freedom is not mine
I will enjoy freedom inside cage
Deija-lyn Kaneaiakala (1/24/2012 12:47:00 AM)
36 person liked.
8 person did not like.
: Sighs: This song makes me tear up every time I read it. Reminds me of how we all think. Adults wanting to go back to their childhood days where they're free. And children wanting to trap themselves in their own cages to be an adult. Not what I think the poem is about, but something that reminds me of it. Such beautiful and moving words she spouts off...
Helen Baird (1/14/2012 11:46:00 AM)
23 person liked.
10 person did not like.
As 2012 begins I want to a free bird and not be caged! ! A beautiful poem and I would love to hear the poet reading it x
Salema Khatun (1/10/2012 5:32:00 AM)
19 person liked.
9 person did not like.
a vert powerfull poem...the poet wrote the poem from her heart......and how much the longed for freedom......a nice poem for simplicity....readers may consider to read mine the idea of an idea
Jhett David Collins (1/9/2012 11:06:00 PM)
20 person liked.
9 person did not like.
Love this beauty all around
Savita Tyagi (1/4/2012 1:15:00 PM)
17 person liked.
8 person did not like.
Beautiful. Have heard the name of poem but never read fully till today. Touches the heart.
 

Read all 83 comments >>
 
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