Maya Angelou (4 April 1928)

Cass K-
She credits him as being one of her sources of inspiration for ALL of her writing and style in her autobiography, p.14, Bantam Books, the 1993 reissue.

This poem is, ultimately, about her experiences as a child, as well as oppression in her surroundings. Obviously, having grown up in rural Stamps, Arkansas, Angelou knew something about the racial striations surrounding her. If you read her autobiography, also entitled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, one of the main themes IS racial segregation, as well as sexism and isolation, and its effects on her life. These factors shaped who she is as a person, as well as a writer. To not understand this concept is to not see the full picture of her writing's beauty.

i really admire maya, i think she is a fantastic writer and has accomplished a lot. im just curious though, im doing a poetry report right now and one of the poems i chose was 'sympathy' by Paul Laurence Dunbar-this is another great poem, and reminds me a lot of maya's i know why the caged bird sings.

in fact, the end of dunbar's poem goes 'I know why the caged bird sings! '

im sure that maya was probably inspired by 'sympathy' to write this one of her most famous poems.....but does anybody know if she accredited Paul Laurence Dunbar for his original work? wouldn't that be the thing to do? just wonderin....

F Green;

This poem, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, is not about 'oppression in the freest country in history, ' as you said in your comment.

It is about being raped by her mother's boyfriend when she was a child.

If you liked this poem, check out the poem 'Sympathy' by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The first comment on the comment page (F Green) is unnecessarily cynical. A poem doesn't always show all of the world, just one aspect. Accept it and get over yourself.

And remember that the US once did support Black Slavery and Jim Crow laws (do some research - Maya Angelou grew up in the South when Jim Crow laws were in effect. She knows where-of she speaks) .

Is F Green a modern-day Holden Caulfield, worried about everybody else's phoniness?

Phony metaphor. Well, I’ve known some quite happy and complacent caged birds in my time, and the short, unhappy lives of some free birds is not necessarily all that it is cracked up to be. It’s a phony metaphor for the phony “oppression” that some people are constantly complaining about in the freest, most opportunity rich country in history.

if you love the poem, read the book! It's great!

Who is going to correct 'win' to 'wind' in the second line?

I was introduced to Maya in a college literature class, hadn't heard of her until then. She touched the soul of one who'd been caged and then set free. I, too, know why the caged bird sings and thank her for putting into words what so many abused people don't know how or can't express.
I, too, saw the typos but thought of the message and overlooked them. That can be fixed by a few keystrokes, the bars around a caged heart? Not so easily. Her words have inspired yet another poem for me, her courage (I also read her book) has kept my heart from giving up when all seemed lost. The world would've been so much less had she not written down what was in her heart.

I have often felt like that caged bird...yet I just keep right on hoping, though, that with every day that comes, I will have the courage to 'open my mouth and sing.'