How does the poet reveal the plight of the caged bird?

"" is a poem by African American
writer(1928€“2014), originally published in her collection Shaker, Why Don't You
Sing? in 1983. The poem consists of six stanzas written in . It is narrated in the
third person and contrasts free and caged birds, with the first and fourth stanzas focusing on
the free bird, and the second, third, fifth, and sixth stanzas focusing on the caged bird. The
third and sixth stanzas are identical and thus form a refrain. Thus, the first way Angelou
emphasizes the plight of the caged bird is through contrasting it with the free bird.

The first major contrast is spatial, with the free bird roaming across an open sky,
soaring in the wind, and seeing vast territories spread out beneath it. The caged bird is
described as being confined to a small space, with its visual field limited by bars and with its
wings clipped rather than functioning.

Next, Angelou contrasts the dreams and
thoughts of the free bird with those of the caged bird. The dreams of the free bird, of fat
worms and fresh breezes, are things a free bird can reasonably expect to experience. The caged
bird stands on a "grave of dreams" and instead is described as living in a nightmare,
singing of the freedom it cannot have.

The two main ways the plight is
revealed are directly, through description such as clipped wings and tied feet, and indirectly,
through comparisons and descriptions of the two birds' songs and dreams.