analyze poem I know Why the Caged Bird sings by maya angelou :

1. Literature
Poem : I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Poet : Maya Angelou
Thermutis P Renyaan
150401090024
Esti Wahyuni
150401090083

2. I know why the caged bird sings
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns 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.

3. Figurative language

4. Personification
– Sighing trees
– Shadow shouts

5. Metaphor
– The grave of dream
– Sing of freedom
– She is comparing a bird trapped in a cage to slavery
and the pain of the freedom
– The song bird sings represents the plea of freedom
– The poem relates to the feeling of bird, as his parents
were once slaves

6. Imagery
– Expressing his feelings here, the poem is lyrical
– The third stanza amhasizes how desperate the bird
truly is
– the bird sings a prayer not of enjoy or glee, but of
prayer to heaven

7. Repitition
– But
– Sentense repititon ( so he open his throat to sing)

8. Theme and Topic

9. Theme :
They want to be free of the incompetence
that exists in America.

10. Topic : Freedom
The caged bird can be interpreted as the black race being
held back from freedomby their skin color. They are
repressed African Americans who are both literally and
figuratively caged an unable to spread their wings and
meet their full potential. They dream of freedom. The
repetition of the word “ freedom” is also used to
highlight the rights of every American citizen.

11. THANK YOU