Practice Question 4:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
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 fearful trill
of the 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.
Maya Angelou
a) Explain how the poet expresses her thoughts and ideas about the birds.
In your answer you should consider:
- the poet’s descriptive skills
- the poet’s choice of language
b)Explain how the poet uses form and structure to express her thoughts and ideas
about birds?
Support your answer with examples from the poem.
Indicative content:
a)The poet’s descriptive skills:
- the title of the poem is declarative, perhaps suggesting a mystery has been
solved by the speaker when she declares ‘I know’
- the poem provides contrasts between a caged and a free bird and between
the bird and a human who feels restricted; their characteristics are compared
throughout the poem
- the life of the ‘free bird’ is described as carefree and unrestricted; the ‘free
bird’ enjoys freedom and has no competition. He could be simply revelling in
his freedom; alternatively, he could be considered lazy, as he simply ‘floats’
on ‘the current’, or unsatisfied, craving even more ‘fat worms’ to satiate his
greed
- the life of the ‘caged bird’ is restricted; he is ‘fearful’, but he still sings for
‘freedom’; there is a sense of rebellion as the ‘caged bird’ can be heard ‘on
the distant hill’; he lives in a cage that is ‘the grave of dreams’; he has had his
wings ‘clipped’ and his ‘feet are tied’
- the ‘caged bird’ is possibly singing a prayer for freedom
- the use of symbolism: the ‘caged bird’ is timid and ‘clipped’; the ‘free bird’ will
take risks as he ‘dares’ to do things.
The poet's choice of language
Reward all relevant examples of language and comments on its
effectiveness, e.g.:
- the poem is a wish for liberty or freedom; it could be interpreted as being
about the rich and the poor or those suppressed by others; some candidates
may consider that the poem is an extended metaphor relating to slavery:
‘trade winds’
- colour imagery presents the ‘free’ bird’s life in a positive way: ‘orange sun
rays’, ‘dawn-bright’; negative language presents the ‘caged bird’: ‘bars of
rage’, ‘nightmare scream’
- the use of strong, harsh words reflects the anger that the ‘caged bird’ feels:
‘stalks’, ‘fearful trill’; the language to describe the ‘free bird’ is more gentle:
‘floats’, ‘breeze’, ‘sighing’
- sibilance enhances the ‘free bird’ and its actions with the verbs: ‘leaps’,
‘floats’, ‘dips’, ‘dares’
- alliteration and assonance emphasise the ‘caged’ bird’s plight.
b)The poet's use of structure and form:
- repetition of sentences and phrases suggests the ‘caged’ bird’s desperate,
repeated plea for freedom
- the six stanzas comprise of four for the ‘caged bird’ and two for the ‘free bird’;
the third stanza is repeated at the end, with a slight variation of line length;
this acts almost like a chorus
- stanzas juxtapose each other; the first and fourth stanzas are about the ‘free
bird’ and the others are about the ‘caged bird’
- the poem is lyrical in form; it has an irregular rhyme and there is a lack of
punctuation, perhaps reflecting the themes of freedom, monotony and
rebellion.
These examples are suggestions only. Accept any valid responses.
Reward a clear personal response, provided this is well
supported from the text.
