Introductory
"Caged Bird" by Maya Angelou is a poem deeply rooted in the historical struggles of African Americans, so a formalist analysis of this poem may only focus on the "birds" and the singing of the caged bird. Though the formalists were mainly concerned about the text in a poem, the very historical allusion of the struggle of the blacks to express with "freedom" stems from the text, through symbols, personification, and other literary devices used within the text. In this formalist analysis, we will see how the poetic text and the contrast it shows between the free bird and the caged bird in this poem link back to the quest for freedom and recognition of African Americans in the "land of the free".
Poetic Form
"Caged Bird" by Maya Angelous is a free verse. A free verse is a poem that does not adhere to a certain rhyme scheme or rhythm, and its stanzas can be of varying length. This poem neither follows a distinct rhyme scheme nor it exhibits a flowing rhythmic pattern. Though there are certain verses that follow a loose iambic rhythm:
A free / bird leaps
on the back / of the wind
Or
(and) his tune / is heard
on the dis / tant hill
But that iamb rhythm breaks apart in the next line:
for the caged bird
Sings of / free-dom.
The poem is composed of 38 lines, and its structure is made of six uneven stanzas. The first and second stanzas are made of 7 lines, and thus are septets. The third and sixth stanzas are octaves as they contain 8 lines, whereas the fourth and fifth stanzas are quatrains (stanzas of 4 lines). This unstructured structure is quite remanecent of the visible and audible melancholy of the caged bird who "sings for freedom".
Literary & Poetic Devices
This poem makes use of many literary and poetic devices, such as personification, symbolism, enjabment, irony, juxtaposition and many others that we will discuss in detail below:
Personification: Personification is a literary device in which we attribute human traits to non-human living beings and inanimate objects. The poet has addressed the two birds (both free and caged) with the pronoun "he". Such pronouns (he/she) are used in place of human names. The birds are usually addressed with the pronoun "it", and "they". The poet has also attributed another human trait of "claiming" things through the personification of the free bird, flying as if he "dared to claim the sky". The poet's use of personification and addressing the bird with the pronoun "he" suggests that these birds serve as an allegory for the actual people they represent through symbolism.
Symbolism: Symbols, as a literary device, stand for and signify something else. The symbol of the caged bird represents the oppressed African Americans, whereas the free bird signifies the white coloured Americans. The clipped wings of the caged bird serve as a symbol of the confinement and limited freedom African Americans were subject to.
Irony: Irony is a contradictory statement that showcases a reality that is different from what is usually perceived. It is very common for flying birds to sing, but the flying bird in this poem only flies. It is the caged bird who sings "with a fearful trill." That ironical notion of the caged bird singing and the free bird flying compels the readers to think beyond what is inside the text.
Juxtaposition: A literary device that invites readers to draw comparisons by presenting two contrasting things or situations. The whole poem is composed to illustrate a contrast between the free bird and the caged bird. The free bird is free to roam about the sky whenever "he" likes whereas the wings of the caged bird are clipped and his cage is narrow, with his legs tied. The poet explicitly uses the word "But" in the first line of the second stanza to further emphasize that this poem is a juxtaposition.
Repitition: It is the repetition of certain words or phrases in a poem. But "Caged Bird" has a whole stanza repeated twice. The third and sixth stanzas contain the same wording, emphasizing the song of the caged bird.
Enjabment: The continuation of a poetic sentence from one line of poetry to another, without punctuation marks, is called an enjabment. The following lines are examples of enjabments, as the poet does not stop the poetic sentence in its natural position:
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
Another example:
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of multiple words is called consonance. Here is an examples of consonance from the poem:
in the orange sun rays / and dares to claim the sky.
Imagery: "Caged Bird" is filled with visual and auditory imagery such as "dipping wings … in orange sunrays", "bars of rage", "clipped wings", "tied feet", "hearing of tune from a distant hill", "signing trees", "shadow shouting", "grave of dreams". These images represent the contrast between the free bird and the caged bird and why the caged bird "sings of freedom" for he (and the nation he represents) wants his song to be heard beyond the distant hill.
Conclusion
A simple textual and formalist analysis of "Caged Bird" may only tell the story of "why the caged bird sings" but since formalists also weighed the use of literary devices as important, literary devices such as personification, irony, symbolism, and the contrast between the birds clearly indicate that the free bird and the caged bird "mean" something else beyond their literal representation. Thus, formalist analysis, though it is mainly concerned with the text of this poem, uncovers the struggle of Africans who migrated to America through literary devices.
