By Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
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 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.
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
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.
I chose this poem because it’s full of different emotions: happiness and hope on the one hand, despair and fear on the other. Maya Angelou contrasts the lives of the free and the caged bird with each other. While the free bird leads a life free of sorrows and „floats downstream“, the very existence of the caged bird is painful. The caged bird therefore tries to use its voice by singing about the painful life it leads- a life that is a reality for the caged bird but is considered widely unknown elsewhere and which is only heard about „on the distant hill“.
Angelou uses the metaphor and the contrast between the free and the caged birds in order to demonstrate the difference of social realities that people experience. The poem is a clear allusion to the condition of Black people in the USA, particularly during the time of slavery but also beyond slavery. To her, Black people had to lead the life of the caged bird. They talk about their pain but are not heard-at least not enough and only in the „distant hill“. However, she also expresses a glimpse of hope: that one day, all the birds can be free birds.
