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Caged Bird Poem Analysis

Decent Essays

“We do not fear the unknown. We fear about what we think we know about the unknown.” -Teal Swan. Fear is an ordinary feeling in human nature, and humans can become scared for countless reasons. Occasionally we feel as if our lives are in danger, or something from the past bubbling to the surface, or maybe you truly did something wrong. Perhaps the fear of failing or a haunting memory that have buried themselves deep inside your self-conscious, causing you to forget about the trauma. But the scar is still there. It holds you back. Latching onto you like an unwanted parasite. It holds you in a cage.
‘Caged Bird’ is a poem about a bird being held back in its cage as it watches another bird fly freely through the sky. This poem could mean numerous things, but I believe this poem is about someone fearing the unknown. Of what would happen if they left their cage, their safe place. But they can’t help by being curious what their freedom could be. So, they’re tied back by their own fears. Too scared to open their wings and fly away. Perhaps from past experiences, or anxiety building up over their time in the cage. “but a bird stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage, his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat”. They let the unknown tie their feet and clip their wings, but their envy of freedom still drifts along with their fears, so they open their throat to sing. Even how angry they get with their fits of rage, they’re too scared and too damaged to overcome their fears of what they don’t know. Perhaps someone can change their fears. Warn them so they can morph and overcome them.
‘Mother to Son’, is a poem about a mother explaining to her child, that even though her life has been difficult, she’ll overcome it and keep climbing. She was kept in her own cage that held her back, but she broke free from what held her back in her early life. Her life was delayed because she was too scared to break free from her bonds and fly. Her life was filled with her staying on that one step. Her crystal stairs were fogged by her dread. She warns her child so he doesn’t make the same mistakes as she did. That even if she kept herself in her cage, she broke free and kept climbing.

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