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Caged Bird

Maya Angelou, Maya Angelou poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Maya Angelou
(1928 - ) Timeline

Original Language
English

Secular or Eclectic
Contemporary

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.

 

 

-- from The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, by Maya Angelou

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Awakening
  Birds
  Bower
  Dawn
  Death


Recommended Books


And Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou
A Brave and Startling Truth, by Maya Angelou
The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou, by Maya Angelou
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, by Maya Angelou
Gather Together in My Name, by Maya Angelou

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.