What type of poem is “i know why the caged bird sings” by maya angelou?
Maya Angelou didn’t write the poem she took the line from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem sympathy. Her novel “deals with issues including childhood rape, racism, and sexism”. The poem would be considered a sad poem. The full poem including the stanza that Maya Angelou takes the line from is below: “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 beat
