It is
clear from Angelou's choice of language that the "caged bird" of the title is not
happy with its lot. There is a sense that he is restrained and prevented from fulfilling his
true potential, seen in words like "clipped," "tied," and "bars."
That this makes the bird angry is indicated by its way of movingit "stalks"and the
"bars of rage" through which it can barely see.
The bird is
frightened, too, unsure of what the future will hold for itits singing voice is
"fearful," and while it yearns to leave its cage in favor of things it has
"longed for," it cannot see into the "unknown." The theme of this poem is
one of being denied freedom, and this is encapsulated in the image of this bird, whose song is
heard beyond the bars of the cage which traps it; it may be angry at its confinement and unsure
of how to escape its cage, but its spirit has not been killed.
Sometimes, the
plight of the caged bird can seem hopelessit stands on "the grave of dreams,"
suggesting that it has made attempts before to reach what it longs for, but these attempts have
been thwarted by circumstances. Words such as "shouts" and "nightmare
scream" express the sheer pain the bird has felt and has tried to articulate. However, the
tenacity of the bird is shown through the fact that it continually "opens its throat to
sing," despite everything that has wounded it in the past. Its song is heard far beyond the
cage in which it is confined, with the poem ending on a hopeful notethe bird, afor oppressed
people, may be entrapped and thwarted by society, but its longing for freedom can never be
stamped out of it.
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