A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

In lines 1–7, which comprise the poem’s opening stanza, the speaker introduces the figure of the free bird. As “his” name suggests, the free bird enjoys all the privileges of liberty, expressed here in terms of the joys of flight. Indeed, the free bird’s freedom relates primarily to his capacity for unrestrained movement. Note, for instance, how the verbs in the stanza all indicate dynamic activity. The free bird leaps, floats, dips, and dares—all words that convey the bird’s freedom of movement and his agency to make decisions about where he goes. Whereas the verbs communicate the feeling of freedom, the sunset imagery in the final lines emphasizes the visual splendor that accompanies the joyful physicality of flight. By the end of the stanza, the free bird feels so in control of his own body and experience that he develops a feeling of ownership. Not only does he enjoy a feeling of self-possession, but he also “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.

In the second stanza (lines 8–14), the speaker introduces the caged bird, whose conditions of existence stand in stark contrast to those of the free bird. Whereas the free bird enjoys complete freedom of movement, the caged bird suffers in confinement. The most obvious constraint is “his narrow cage.” However, the caged bird’s body has also been brutally altered to prevent flight: “his wings are clipped and / his feet are tied.” In this way, the caged bird’s body itself becomes a prison. So intense are his feelings of anger and helplessness that the caged bird’s very psyche is locked in with “bars of rage.” This psychic constraint is the most profound form of imprisonment the caged bird suffers, since it affects his capacity even to imagine freedom. With no other options available, the caged bird exercises the one liberty left to him: “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.

This stanza, which is arguably the most significant in the poem, is in fact so significant it appears twice: in lines 15–22 and 31–38. The repetition of this complete stanza clearly underscores its importance. However, it’s also worth noting the impact of where this repeated stanza is placed. The first instance of this stanza comes after the speaker has offered a comparison of the inequitable situations of the free bird and the caged bird. Stanza 3 is therefore something of a crux, underscoring the caged bird’s agonizing mix of hope and sadness. After stanza 3 there come two stanzas that consist of longer lines. These long-lined stanzas reflect the free bird’s sense of spaciousness and freedom as well as the caged bird’s desire for the same. However, the poem doesn’t end there. It ends, rather, with a return to the formal constraint of the short-lined stanza. The fact that this stanza is also an exact repetition of stanza 3 drives home the sorrow and longing caused by the caged bird’s ongoing confinement. Yet the emphasis these lines place on the caged bird’s use of song also suggests that art can be a source of resilience, even under such oppressive conditions.

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