Caged Bird:

1. Leaps, floats and dips are all movements – the bird is able to fly
unrestricted,  in many different ways, making the most of the space, wind
and currents available to is.  It can take risks and make choices, reflected in
dares and it’s powerful: it can claim the sky.

2. His cage is narrow, there is little view,  his wings are clipped,  his feet
are tied.  He stalks because his movement is so limited by these
restrictions. He can’t fly or even walk normally. Stalks could also suggest
rage referred to, implying hostility or anger in the movement, in response to
circumstances. 

3. Fearful could imply that the singing is anxious, uncertain, that the bird is
afraid, because it does not know what suffering lies ahead or about the things
unknown to it.  More likely it has the connotation of ‘powerful’, ‘very
great’. It is stated that he opens his throat; the sound is released, not
quiet, and is heard / on the distant hill.  It could even imply hostility or
anger in the movement, in response to circumstances. 

4. A grave is where someone or something which has died is found.  A grave

5. The refrain contributes to the musicality of the poem; it is like a song’s chorus
repeated.  This is relevant to the caged bird singing. The repetition of the
refrain hints at ongoing resistance to oppression. Voices against inequality
and oppression will ‘sing out’ again and again;  they cannot be silenced
though they might be caged. 

SMILE Textbook
3. a) The ring is significant because the caged bird comes from Maya Angelou's
poem and Maya Angelou was a previous inaugural poet.
b) ‘the hill we climb’ could be a metaphor for the difficulties that women faced and
tried to conquer and that Amanda Gorman is still trying to overcome
2. Own answer. Images of two birds - one free in nature and the other in captivity in
a cage. The free bird flies and soars in the sky, while the bird in captivity can hardly
move, let alone fly. Its wings are clipped and its feet are tied, keeping it bound
behind the bars of the cage.
3. The free bird has unlimited access to the sky: he lives freely in his bright colourful,
natural habitat where he can fly, feed and live as he pleases, as he is meant to. He
exalts his freedom, leaping, dipping and floating. You feel the joy of the bird's free
spirit.
In contrast, the caged bird lives in captivity, in a small cage with dark bars. His wings
are clipped and his feet are tied to prevent him from flying away. He is destined to
live in this lifeless, unnatural place where he feels desperate, furious and frustrated.
He knows that his life is not meant to be like this; he knows he was created to be
free, but he has never tasted freedom. We can feel the bird's frustration. We then
understand why this bird sings - he cannot do much else. He is desperate and this is
the only way he can express his longing for freedom which he can sense but has
never experienced.
4. a) The free bird represents people who have freedom: social, political and
psychological freedom. The caged bird represents people who do not have freedom:
those who are oppressed disempowered and discriminated against.
b) The metaphors are effective because a bird in flight in the open sky has unlimited
space. A living creature in a cage symbolizes a prison: a small, dark and frightening
place where freedom is denied and where anger, frustration and longing manifest
themselves.
5. The caged bird’s song is the song of freedom. In his captive state all he can do is
express his frustration and longing for freedom by using his voice. He sings his song
from a place of anger rather than joy.
6. Yes, somewhere far away on a hill, he is heard.
7. He never gives up because of hope. He hopes that one day his cry will be heard
and he will be set free.

Stanza 1
1. Verbs: “leaps”, “floats” and “dips”. These actions indicate all the freedom that
the free bird enjoys and emphasizes all the space in which he has to do all
these things.
2. The conjunction ‘and’ is repeated three times. It draws attention to the many
things the bird can do in its freedom.
3. This bird is free to move around as it pleases.
4. Rhyme words is a form of restraint and having no rhyme words is a way to
suggest the unbridled freedom of the bird's flight.
5. a) It further enforces the image of freedom. The bird is empowered, he feels
that he has a right to the sky and that there is nothing to stop him.
b) He does have a right, because he is a creature of nature and that is where
he belongs.

Stanza 2
1. a) “But” indicates that a contrast will follow.
b) The free bird in his environment is being contrasted with his opposite: the
caged bird
 2. ‘Stalks’ describes the way the caged bird moves; It could mean that he is
walking stiffly, in a pent-up angry manner, carefully as though he is creeping
up on something - either way he is not walking freely and with abandonment
in the way that the free birds flying is described in stanza 1.
3. a) the futility of his rage is compared to the bars of a cage. His rage constricts
him.
b) It is effective because it gives us a good idea of how frustrated and
restricted the bird feels.
4. a) His clipped wings and tied feet, and the bars and size of his small cage
prevent him from experiencing flight and freedom.
b) The free bird has no restrictions or restraints.
5. The cage is small and narrow and barred. It is a confined space and his vision
is blocked. In contrast, the free bird has a vast open space.
6. Caged bird cannot escape his confinement: he cannot do what he is
supposed to be. Because of these limitations he can only express his freedom
in the way that he knows how – by ‘opening his throat’ and singing. Singing is
something he can do.

Stanza 3
1. The sound is a “fearful trill”. It is a loud and shrill warbling sound. It is not
sweet and pleasant.
2. He longs for freedom and everything out there in nature although he has
never experienced any of those things.
3. His song is heard, but only from a distance.
4. The poet uses end rhyme - the words at the end of each line of the first three
couplets rhyme: ‘trill’, ‘still’ and ‘hill’.

Stanza 4
1. a) he is free to enjoy various, gentle winds that rustles like a sigh of
contentment through the trees. Fat juicy worms are his for the taking on the
sunny lawns in the early morning.
b) The freedoms of flying with the wind, catching the breeze, feeling the sun's
rays (‘dawn’, ‘bright’) and claiming and naming the sky as his own are
repeated.
c) The repetition is used to remind us that in contrast with the caged bird, this
bird is free to enjoy his environment in various and limitless ways.
2. This technique is used to emphasize just how much freedom the free bird has
its options are plentiful and seemingly endless.
3. a) The rhyme in this stanza creates a feeling of harmony. The long ‘ez’ -
sound in ‘trees’ and ‘breeze’ is gentle like the sighing of the trees.
b) where is alliteration, ‘soft’ ‘sighing’. This sibilant sound also creates the
effect of the wind rustling through the trees. Another example is ‘worms
waiting’, which is another soft gentle sound.
 4. a) Bird is no longer venturing or daring to suggest that the sky is his, he is
now confident enough to name it as his and his alone
b) he takes his freedom for granted and sees it as his right. He does not even
realize that it could be different.

Stanza 5
1. ‘But’ it's used to create shift - and we know that a description of the caged
bird’s dire situation it's going to follow as a stark contrast to the abundance of
the free bird.
2. This made the Ford tells us that his dreams have died because they could not
be realized.
3. Alliteration is the sound ‘sh’ in ‘shadow shouts’.
4. a) own answer. It sounds panic stricken or full of fear. It could also sound
terrifying and full of horror.
b) it is effective because the caged bird is in her horrific situation and being
trapped.
5. ‘His wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing’. The
refrain reminds us of the bird's circumstances and the reason why it sings. It
holds an important message: people might be oppressed and disempowered,
that they do have a voice and they are going to use it to call for their freedom.

Stanza 6
1. The caged bird sings because it is all that he can do under the circumstances.
He keeps singing in the hope that, someday, someone will hear him and help
him realize his dreams of freedom.
2. It is cruel and inhumane deny any group of people their freedom - their access
to human rights. Everyone has a right to dignity and equality - and has the
right to make their voices heard until these values are restored.