Introduction to Poetry
Senior 2 · English
Introduction to Poetry
Lesson 3 of 5
25 min
A poem can hold a whole life's pain in three short stanzas. It does this through imagery, words that make us see, hear, smell and feel, and through figures of speech such as simile, metaphor and personification. In examinations you will be asked to find these, explain them, and say what the poem means. This lesson shows you how, using one of the most famous poems in English.
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906) was an African American poet whose parents had been enslaved in Kentucky before the end of slavery in the United States. He published this poem in 1899. It is in the public domain. Many years later, the American writer Maya Angelou took the title of her famous autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, from its last line.
Sympathy
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 what the caged bird feels!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 he beats his wing!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;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—
I know why the caged bird sings!
Word help: alas / ah me (old cries of sorrow); upland (high land); springing (growing fresh in spring); opes (opens); chalice (a cup; here, the cup-shaped flower); steals (moves quietly); perch (a bar a bird sits on); fain would (would gladly); bough (branch); a-swing (swinging); throbs (beats with pain); keener (sharper); bosom (chest); carol (a joyful song); glee (great joy); core (centre); plea (an urgent request); flings (throws).
In stanza 1, what can the caged bird see or sense outside?
Bright sun on the hills, wind in the grass, a shining river, other birds singing, buds opening, and the smell of flowers: all the freedom of spring.
Why does the bird beat its wing until it bleeds?
It wants to be free on the branch outside, but it has to go back to its perch in the cage.
According to stanza 3, is the bird's song happy?
No. It is not a song of joy but a prayer and a plea to Heaven for freedom.
Imagery is language that appeals to the senses and creates pictures in the reader's mind.
| Sense | Image from the poem |
|---|---|
| sight | "the sun is bright on the upland slopes"; "its blood is red on the cruel bars" |
| sound | "the first bird sings" |
| smell | "the faint perfume from its chalice steals" |
| touch / feeling | "a pain still throbs in the old, old scars" |
Notice the contrast: stanza 1 is full of gentle, beautiful images of freedom outside; stanza 2 is full of painful images inside the cage (blood, bars, scars). The contrast makes the bird's suffering sharper.
The persona is the speaker, the "I" of the poem. Here the speaker says "I know" three times: he understands the bird because he feels trapped too. The theme, the big subject, is the longing for freedom. The message is what the poem wants us to understand: a song can be a cry of pain rather than joy, and people who are not free keep hoping and praying for freedom. Many readers connect the poem with the experience of Black Americans facing racism in Dunbar's time, but it speaks to anyone who has felt trapped.
In every stanza, lines 1, 3 and 4 rhyme, and lines 2 and 5 rhyme: stanza 1 is alas, grass, glass (A) and slopes, opes (B), then steals, feels (C). So stanza 1 is ABAABCC.
Look at the first line of each stanza: I know what the caged bird feels, I know why the caged bird sings. After know, wonder, understand, ask, tell me, a question word begins a clause that uses statement word order (subject + verb), not question order.
| Direct question | Inside a statement |
|---|---|
| Why does the bird sing? | I know why the bird sings. |
| What does it feel? | I understand what it feels. |
| Where is the key? | Tell me where the key is. |
Worked example. Correct: I wonder why is the bird so sad.
Step 1: find the question word: why. Step 2: after it, put the subject before the verb: the bird is.
Answer: I wonder why the bird is so sad.
Write a paragraph of 60–80 words analysing one image from "Sympathy". Use PEE: make a Point, give Evidence (a quotation), and Explain its effect.
Model answer
Dunbar shows that the cage has caused long-lasting suffering. He writes that "a pain still throbs in the old, old scars". The verb "throbs" appeals to the sense of touch, so the reader almost feels the pain beating. Repeating "old, old" suggests the bird has been hurt many times, over many years, so its suffering is not new but endless.
Recite stanza 3. Start quietly and sadly on "ah me", build up through "a prayer ... a plea", and say the last line slowly, with a falling tone of certainty.
Tip
Imagery = the five senses. Ask: what can I see, hear, smell, taste or feel in this line?
For any device, use PEE: Point, Evidence (quote), Explain the effect. And after I know / I wonder, keep statement order: why the bird sings.
Which sense does "the first bird sings" appeal to?
Solution: hearing (sound).
Name the device: "the river flows like a stream of glass".
Solution: simile, because it compares using like. The water looks smooth, clear and shining.
What is the extended metaphor of the poem?
Solution: the caged bird, which stands for a person or people who are denied freedom and suffer because of it.
Correct: Can you tell me why does the poet repeat "I know"?
Solution: Can you tell me why the poet repeats "I know"? Use statement order after the question word.
State the theme of "Sympathy" in two or three words.
Solution: the longing for freedom (also accepted: suffering and hope; captivity).
Remember
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