Subjects:
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals--
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting--
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,--
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings--
Everyone knows what it is to feel trapped. Yet never have I found a clearer representation of it than in the poem "Sympathy," by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. It is obvious that this author was not writing only about a caged bird, but
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The third and last verse has more of a tired quality to it. The "cruel bars" also are given a human-like quality as the poet uses personification. His song "is not a carol of joy or glee/But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core.
The poem is also in chronological order. The bird hasn't given up, but he is using his last resort. " These lines indicate a fierce desperation. That the second stanza should be different from the first and third is entirely natural. The second verse is where the change in the poem occurs. First the bird sees what's outside and knows he can't join in. Also, the phrase "old, old scars" implies that this has happened before and the bird has never been able to get out.
Essay's Topics
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