I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
             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 also about himself and the desperation he felt at some point in his life.
             In the first stanza, the poet describes what the caged bird sees. This is a pleasant, flowing stanza, full of soft "s" sounds. It seems like a very happy piece in itself, but the first and last lines indicate otherwise. They bring readers back to the theme by reminding them that the smiling scenes are being viewed by a bird that cannot be part of them.
             The second stanza is very different from the first. In the first line, "I know why the caged bird beats his wing," the bird is no longer sadly watching events outside; he is taking action. The next line is an excellent example of imagery. It is easy to imagine the bird beating its wings until they bleed. The "cruel bars" als
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