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! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A LUTE FOUND IN A SARCOPHAGUS by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE A TEMPLE TO FRIENDSHIP by THOMAS MOORE THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 32. EXHORTING HER TO PATIENCE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT THE MINSTREL AT LINCLUDEN by ROBERT BURNS SALUTE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON LENVOY DE CHAUCER A SCOGAN by GEOFFREY CHAUCER |