Paul Dunbar Sympathy Essay

Nevertheless, in the poem ‘Nesting time’, Stewart interprets a personal experience in first person of the appearance of a bird that lands upon his daughter and forgets the thought of the harsh world. Stewart’s descriptive language repeatedly explains the poem as if seen in his viewpoint, beginning with an interjection, ‘oh’ communicating of his incredulity of an ‘absurd’ bird. Symbolizing the bird with strong coloured imagery its ‘mossy green, sunlit’, described to be bright and joyful, with sweetness shown with the type of bird, ‘honey-eater’, Douglas Stewart takes the time to describe its admiration juxtaposed to the dangerous world surrounding it. While visualizing the birds actions, ‘pick-pick-pick’ of alliteration and repetition of its

He knew what it felt like to be those birds. Why they beat their wings comparing it to why he was beat down daily in life by the outside world. Or the prayers the bird prayed every time when looking out into the beautiful outside and not being able to take part in it. For Dunbar, the comparison between himself and the bird represent the fact that he knows what it is like to live a life caged. He recognizes the pain that it causes trying to break free from the chains of life which bar him from experience.

     In the second stanza, Dunbar refers to the emotional and physical abuse that imprisonment and oppression puts on both the caged bird and the African Americans. Dunbar begins the second stanza with,

Before we pass on from this world it would be nice if we had left our mark, given our contribution, made our claim in the history of human civilization. Wouldn't it be wonderful to achieve such a goal? Wouldn't it be horrible to have attained that level of recognition and yet be recognized for things you deemed inferior? In the poem "The Poet", Paul Laurence Dunbar expresses his remorse at having written superior Standard English literature and yet only be known and praised for his Dialect works.

The title of the poem, “Sympathy”, represents the feeling that the speaker has toward a bird enclosed in a cage. The speaker relates to the bird by repeating the words “I know” and following them with an action of the bird, revealing that he has also

In the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, Dunbar also explains how the slaves sang songs to relieve their pain and misery which was caused by slavery. Dunbar also went through something similar to what Douglass went through when he states, “I know what the caged bird feels.” It’s different when you have been through it yourself, and when you have just heard about it. Experience is the real deal, and once you have, you’re scarred for life as Dunbar states with the help of imagery, “I know why the caged bird beats his wing till its blood is red on the cruel bars.” The use of imagery in this quote helps the readers imagine what the poet is talking about. When you go through all that, all the misery and pain, you need a way to express your emotion and the things you have been through. That’s why the slaves sang their songs, “It’s not a carol of joy and glee, but a prayer that it sends from its heart’s deep core,” stated Dunbar in the poem. In the previous quote he uses invocation to call

The first element our writers used to express their message of wanting to be free is form. The narrator for ‘The Caged Bird” feels alone and wishes to be able to snatch the chains that keep her tied down. Also, in the poem “Sympathy” by Dunbar as well an in “The Caged Bird” both authors used a bird to symbolize the captivity and aspiration for freedom. Both poets wrote their piece in lyric form because of obvious reasons. A lyric poem is defined as a poem that expresses personal and emotional feelings. Writing poems with this form shows the amount of deep emotion that the narrator feels toward this work. In addition, both authors wrote their poems in iambic pentameter to make the poem sound like a natural flow of speech to really show the deep feelings the poets are feeling.

Paul Laurence Dunbar is African-American poet who lived from in the late 1880s to the early 1900s. During his life, Dunbar wrote many poems, in both dialect and standard english. However, many of his poems are considered controversial now, due to negative racial stereotypes and dialect. Currently, some believe that Dunbar’s poetry perpetuates harmful stereotypes such as use of dialect; while others believe that it helps break racial stereotypes through the portrayed emotions. Dunbar’s dialect poetry is helpful for African-Americans, because it accurately depicts the experience of African Americans and humanizes them.

In these lines from Derek Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa,” the speaker emphasizes the natural human tendencies to “inflict pain.” Similarly, in his poem, “Sympathy,” Paul Dunbar explores pain from the point of view of a bird being trapped in a cage. It flaps its wings and tries to escape but it cannot. The bird symbolizes an African American bound by slavery and unable to escape. On the other hand, in Claude McKay’s poem “The Harlem Dancer,” the dancer feels as if

I think sympathy is the way someone feels or how someone reacts to whatever. I think that is sympathy because he is saying that he knows what it feels like to be caged and he knows why the bird sings. He understands what feels like to be caged so he feels that he connects with the bird.

“Sympathy” inspired “I know why the caged bird sings” by stepping up and saying his parents went through slavery. Paul Laurence Dunbar said this because people who’ve been slavery know all about how much you suffer, the pain you go through, the angriness on how much they make you do, and something in your life you”ll never forget. He also inspired her by not being afraid to tell some of his hardest moments in life. Paul gave hints like “i know what the caged bird feels, alas” this means he through stuff like slavery.

Paul Laurence Dunbar effectively uses sound and imagery in “Sympathy” to illustrate oppression, or the lack of freedom, and more masked, the inequality of the races. Dunbar describes the plight of a bird trapped in a cage; in the poem the speaker sympathizes with the hardships of the animal. Through a series of literary devices Dunbar provides context to allow the audience to also sympathize with the bird, and connect it to human tribulations. Dunbar is sufficient in using the rhythm of the poem to convey feelings of entrapment. He uses uniform meter, rhythm, and form to emit feelings of restraint.

The poem is about the vulnerability, innermost torment and the suppression of an emotional and fragile personality symbolized through the image of a Bluebird hidden inside the speakers mind.

Within this poem the two opposing birds each symbolise an oppressing issue; segregation. The caged bird sings of freedom, clipped wings and tied feet, refers to the African Americans and their repression due to inequalities. With the writings from an African American woman, the cage is also symbolic, referring to sexism and misogyny- issues predominately present throughout her time. The first stanza, lines 1-7 relates to nature, referring to a ‘free bird’ throughout her poem. She describes this bird as free through the use of actions commonly seen.

“Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar depicts the idea of slaves singing for their sorrow and releasing their emotions by using an extended metaphor which carries the entire poem. The caged bird, referenced throughout the entire poem, are the slaves. Trapped up with no escape, not able to break free. The metaphor of the caged bird to represent the slaves in this poem truly carries the piece and depicts the imprisonment of slavery. Dunbar evokes imagery ,describing “...when the sun is bright on the upland slopes,