Sympathy And Caged Bird Comparison

There are many different ways someone is considered to be free, the direct definition is to enjoy personal rights or liberty, this can be interpreted in different forms. In their poems “Caged Bird”, and “Sympathy”, Maya Angelou and Paul Laurance Dunbar use caged birds to represent what it means to be free. They both use birds to convey a better image for the reader. Birds are used in both poems of “Caged Bird” and “Sympathy” as a central image because the caged birds are metaphors for true freedom and hope.

In the poem “Sympathy” the author explains why the caged bird sings, this is said many times through the poem. The caged bird attempts to get out of his cage, he doesn’t stop trying to escape. “I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till it’s blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling When he fain would

be on the bough a-swing; And a pain still throb in the old, old scars And they pulse - I know why he beats his wings.” The caged bird is always beating his wings against the bar of his cage, to the point where he starts bleeding. The reason for this behavior is because he want to escape, and fly back to his porch. He constantly beast his wings even if the old scars haven't healed, and are pulsing with agonizing pain.When the caged bird can’t beat his wings any more he finds other ways to draw attention to himself. “I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, when his wing is bruised and bosom sore, Who he beats his bare and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings - I know why the caged bird sings.” The author states that the caged bird sings when and only because it can’t beat it’s wings on the bars anymore. This is a way that the caged bird can rebel. The caged bird sings but he doesn’t sing with joy or happiness, it is a cry for help, it is attempting to escape, to get someone's attention to free him. These quotes show why the bird does what he does, why it sings, and why the author chooses to use a caged bird in the poem, it is obvious to see the bird is unhappy and it it longs for freedom because it does everything in it’s power to defy and rebel against its cage.
Maya Angelou slo uses birds in her poem “Caged Bird” to represent true freedom and what it means.

In the poem there are two birds, one is caged and is forced to watch the other free bird. “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 in Maya Angelou’s poem is forced to watch the free bird from his cage. This caged bird can’t beat his wings, fly, or move, he can only sing a song that is a cry for help. The caged bird can’t do much about his situation, he is trapped and disabled. “ 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 cannot fly anymore because his wings are clipped. Even though he can’t fly the bird still opens his throat to sing. The caged bird in “ Caged Bird” is not as free as the bird in “Sympathy” because if this bid is free he can fly and do whatever he wants. But the bird in Maya’s poem cannot, he isn’t truly free, there is more hope for the other

bird.
In both poems the author has some way of showing the reader what the caged birds could have, these examples are used to show how close the birds are to being free. The caged bird in “Sympathy” is constantly trying to get out because he knows how close freedom is to him. “I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opens, And the faint perfume from its chalice steals - I know what the caged bird feels.” The author added this into the poem to describe how different the bird’s cage is from the outside world. Dunbar makes this place beautiful and perfect for bird, the narrator understands what the caged bird feels and the reader feels sympathy. Angelou uses another bird in the poem to compare the caged bird too, it gives the caged bird a reason to sing. “ 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.” This bird is free and is even prospering, it doesn’t have a care in the world. The free bird even dares to claim the sky as his own because nothing is holding him back. Both poems give the caged birds motivation to get out of their cages by patronizing the birds with freedom, this gives the birds a little hope to why they should be singing.
The birds in both poems are symbolic and are used as metaphors for being free, also they are both used to give a similar lesson.The author titles the poem “Sympathy” because that is what the author wants the reader to feel for the bird. The author of “Caged Bird” uses a free bird to patronize the caged one. These poems are both very similar they both use caged birds to symbolize black slavery in the 1800’s. They both give the birds a reason to escape even though they are different the message is the same, overall “Caged Bird” is more meaningful because it makes you question true freedom with the caged bird being crippled, because it cannot fly and can only sing.