I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings! (poetry, poems, poets)

[JMC49]

What does this saying actually mean?Does anyone know?

[njkate]

Perhaps the poem will answer your question

Caged Bird - Dunbar Poem

[davey123]

Originally Posted by njkate

Perhaps the poem will answer your question

Caged Bird - Dunbar Poem

Maya Angelou has a version too. So, perhaps this will answer your question:

I know why the caged bird sings - A poem by Maya Angelou - American Poems

This site also gives multiple interpretations:
http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_...u_analysis.php

[Kracer]

Simply put it sings because, 'even though it neither toils nor sows, God provides'. It sings a song of thanks.

or

Anthropomorphizing it means a captive soul longing for escape. It sings a mournful song.

or

The bird is living in the 'now' and has no concept of future or past. Feeling good now is justification to sing a happy song.

Which bird are you?

[doc1]

Or the jail bird is ready to sing to the Justice Depatment in exchange for leniency.

[nutleynut]

It is a metaphor for slavery and the sad realities of the Jim Crow south and the despair black people had to deal with daily,
And the blood still throbs in the old, old scars and they pulse again with a keener sting.

It also alludes to the eternal spring of hope;

It's not a carol of joy or glee,
but a prayer that it sends from its heart's deep core,
a plea that upward to heaven it flings.





Thanks for the link NJKate.

[Clark Park]

Originally Posted by Kracer

Simply put it sings because, 'even though it neither toils nor sows, God provides'. It sings a song of thanks. (#1)

or

Anthropomorphizing it means a captive soul longing for escape. It sings a mournful song. (#2)

or

The bird is living in the 'now' and has no concept of future or past. Feeling good now is justification to sing a happy song. (#3)

Which bird are you?

What an interesting and insightful extrapolation! I like your answer.

I'll take it one step further ... the three different interpretations can relate to three religious philosophies:

#1 - Christianity
#2 - Judaism
#3 - Buddhism