Born on June 27, 1872, Paul Laurence Dunbar is one of the few greatest African American poets of his time. Paul Laurence Dunbar is responsible for a great deal of poetry, including “Sympathy” as an exclamation for independence. Surprisingly, Dunbar was one of the first poets to write in both English and African American dialect which appealed to both. Like most of Dunbar’s works, Sympathy, according to English professor, Joanne Gabbin in his analysis, “Intimate Intercessions in the Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar” states: “…the inevitable theme of African American literature since black poets tried to sing in a strange land” (228). The form of Dunbar’s poem is consistent, echoing the same plea of sympathy he has towards the captive bird, who greatly
By setting a standard through the innocent, “little black dog” and the content bird, the poet makes the harsh man stand out and really fail to be an ideal person. The bird and the dog live life without a care, knowing that “everything is answered, all taken care of”, although the speaker has worries about life and cannot escape the ideas of yesterday. Instead of being okay with the present moment, the speaker is stuck in a time that he can’t change, rendering him unable to focus on the positives that the morning has to offer. The poems “Five A.M.” and “Five Flights Up” have contrasting ideas.
(Hook). The poem “Sympathy”, by Paul Laurence Dunbar published 1899 which inspired the title to Maya Angelou's autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. The articulation of this poem derives from such aspects as the use of rhetorical devices, and overall meaning of the piece being strengthened by these interlocked aspects. Driving people to become aware of their situations and fight against the driving forces rather than giving into them.
The poem is about an African American man who dreams to be free one day. He compares himself to a caged bird. He feels as if him and the bird are both missing out on all the wonderful things in life. According to the text,” I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright and the upland slopes; when the wind stirs sot through the spinning grass” (Dunbar 1-3).
Angelou and Dunbar show similarities when they describe feeling trapped like caged birds, but their portrayal of the birds contrast in their actions
If we compare the bird’s wings to Tom Robinson’s hope, the feet to his heart, and his action of running to the action of opening his throat to sing, we can visualize the song that Tom Robinson would sing, one about him losing hope and not wanting anyone to control his life anymore, and so in this manner he is very much like the caged bird in this poem. Similarly, Tom Robinson’s physical struggles can be compared to the caged bird in the poem “Sympathy”. In the novel it’s written “Tom
Dunbar also illustrates the yearning for mental and physical freedom from the racism African-American endured through symbolism in “Sympathy.” Dunbar suggests to the reader a comparison between the lifestyle of the caged bird, and the African American. Dunbar begins the poem by stating “I know what the caged bird feels, alas!” showing the comparison of a caged bird to an African American (1). This line hold extreme weigh as the closest way to describe one’s life is through the analogy of a caged bird.
First Stanza Summary The narrator starts the poem off by stating an understanding of a caged bird’s situation. After this, the narrator details the beauty and intrigue of the bird’s surroundings such as the springing grass, bright sun, and stirring wind. However, because the bird is caged, it is not frolicking in it. The stanza finishes off the same way it started, by the narrator empathizing with the described caged bird.
Angelou and Skyes each demonstrate this idea in their poems. In Caged Bird, Angelou uses vivid and powerful imagery to build an analogy for oppression through contrasting descriptions of a “free” and “caged” bird, built by metaphor and personification. In her first stanza, Angelou describes that “a free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream until the current ends… and dares to claim the sky”. The description uses an image of a flowing stream to describe the endless opportunities available to a “free bird” and can also be interpreted to illustrate the flow of time and life in freedom.
In conclusion, the two poems have similarities and differences. Sympathy and Caged Bird revealed the struggles the birds and the slaves faced; going through tortures. The caged birds are just like slaves being whipped and being locked up. Many times, others would be hurting on the inside, but many don’t express it on the outside, so that’s why the caged bird
Dunbar’s exquisite subject of a bird shows how African American people became less human, and more animalistic. A caged bird is similar to how, even though African Americans are humans and technically “free”, they were still trapped. Dunbar’s powerful word choice emphasizes struggle and pain that occurred in the attempt to gain true freedom. Dunbar expresses the caged bird “beats his wings” until “its blood red on the cruel bars” (8-9). The author’s word choice of “beats”, “blood red”, and “cruel” narrates a hard, tedious struggle.
In “Sympathy”, Paul Laurence Dunbar writes about a situation where hope is present. In the beginning of the Poem we read that a bird is caged with the dream of being free. In stanze two we see the bird is fighting even though it seem futile because of the sense of it never being able to escape. Not to mention Dunbar explains how the bird was beating his wing on its cage and how he’s losing hope a bit. At the end it shows that the bird is still Holding onto the sliver of hope.
Have you ever been a place where you can not leave? You would do everything you possibly can to escape and be freed. The poem “Sympathy” is a poem about a bird who is a poem about who is trapped in a cage. As you read the poem, you begin to understand that there is a deeper meaning to the poem. When the poem was wrote in the 1800s, many African- Americans were in slavery, and the poet wanted others to know how many of them felt.
(Davis) “Caged Bird” is the poem which lead to Angelou’s autobiography “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” 1970, (Davis) and in 1979 was made into a major motion picture. (IMDB) This poem addresses the feelings of isolation and segregation which allows the reader to travel the path of Angelou during the social injustice
In the poems “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar and “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou, both portray captive birds that sing. However in “Sympathy”, the bird pleads with god for freedom, whereas in “Caged Bird” the captive bird calls for help from a free bird. In “Sympathy” the bird knows what freedom feels like since there was a time where the bird was once free, but now is trapped. In the first stanza the use of imagery revealed how freedom felt before the bird was caged.
