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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
(655 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 )
 
Cynthia Buhain-Baello (2/22/2012 1:44:00 AM)
3 person liked.
0 person did not like.
Eloquent and very cutting - incisive and forceful. The message is brilliant and the style so free. Great!
Dijon Noble (2/22/2012 12:39:00 AM)
2 person liked.
0 person did not like.
I enjoyed this poem, very eloquent
Michael Avis (2/21/2012 8:19:00 AM)
3 person liked.
2 person did not like.
The juxtaposition of Angelou's free bird and caged bird metaphor vividly illustrates the emotional impact of captivity and what the freedom to leap on the back of the wind feels like. Masterfully emotional writing.
Ramesh Rai (2/21/2012 7:08:00 AM)
3 person liked.
2 person did not like.
he 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.
freedom. each and every creature needs freedom except the human beings who are captive of so many formalities.
Aftab Alam Khursheed (2/20/2012 5:13:00 AM)
2 person liked.
3 person did not like.
Cage keeper will not bring the freedom, it is known to them/freedom, freedom n freedom indeed, you r free to read and vote my poems also
Betty Loia (2/14/2012 5:30:00 PM)
21 person liked.
10 person did not like.
What happened to the original I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Paul Laurence Dunbar? ? A much better poem than this one, by the way.
Sagar Shelar (2/11/2012 5:41:00 AM)
12 person liked.
13 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)
47 person liked.
17 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)
12 person liked.
18 person did not like.
Fervent yearning to get liberty is well delineated.
Carissa Sanders-harrod (1/31/2012 5:02:00 PM)
24 person liked.
15 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.
 

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