caged bird
- Created by: rubyella24
- Created on: 28-12-19 16:00
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- Caged Bird
- tone
- deep authenticity informed by sadness and political injustice
- structure
- first 2 stanzas look similar, share irregular rhymes, regular iambic/ tetrameter in last line
- rhymes and half rhymes often
- metrical variation accelerates verse and generates momentum 'on the back of the wind' and ' the trade winds soft'
- open 'ee' in first stanza- 'leaps'/ 'streams'
- alliterative patterns add to echoic effects 'free'/ 'float'
- each half of poem ends with same stanza repeated
- content
- a bird with clipped wings and tied feet has been placed in a cage to prevent it from flying away
- despite its fear, the caged bird continues to sing of freedom.
- Angelous describes a bird that is free, contrastingly, to choose where he flies
- a bird with clipped wings and tied feet has been placed in a cage to prevent it from flying away
- purpose
- evokes pathos (empathy), emotionally political, injustice!
- analysis
- stanza three/ six
- alternate rhyme- emphasises yearning, prayer of release
- 'tune is heard'- music will escape the cage, carry far, communicate- possibility of future liberation. present tense= short wait?
- parallel to black struggle in Angelou's time, wouldn't relent until human rights given
- 'sings of freedom'- life of restriction, but in darkness the brighter a light seems, to those oppressed the more powerful the dreams of freedom
- stanza two
- 'but'- prepares reader for contrast, tone immediately changes from peaceful and satisfied to dark, unnerving, frustrating
- bird symbol universalises the situation for different contexts of oppression
- 'seldom see'- barely gets a glimpse of the sky, contrast
- 'clipped'- like slaves on slave ships
- stanza one
- central contrast between 2 worlds
- birds associated with freedom and singing
- soft manner of natural forces of motion, world is gentle and relaxing
- wind and stream provide bird's transport
- 'floats', 'dips'-- dynamic verbs
- natural beauty of sky,bird enjoying freedom
- sound patterning= vibrant energy, freedom, exuberance, vitality, movement
- stanza five
- 'but'- interjection, reminder that freedom is prevented for some
- 'grave of dreams'- nightmarishly dark world
- 'scream- emotive, human-like suffering
- 'so he opens his throat to sing'- repetition. can only sing of the freedom that the other bird ostentatiously enjoys (restraint). desire for freedom cannot be contained
- stanza four
- ecstasy and thrill contrasts with dull, oppressive 3rd and 5th stanzas
- comfortable interaction with world
- dawn- hope, new beginnings. lawn- nature domesticated for bird'e ease
- fat worms waiting- food arranged conveniently
- names the sky his own- above the world, God association
- stanza three/ six
- tone
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