“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” was written by Maya Angelou and has the same title as her autobiography. Suddenly, it is clear that this title had great meaning for Angelou. Angelou is a Black American who grew up in the South during the civil rights movement in the 20th century, and she expresses her feelings about the discrimination she experienced during her life. This poem is known for its deep meaning of the desire for freedom, as well as for its vivid use of language and stanza structure. Angelou wrote this poem in 1969, which marks almost the end of the civil rights movement (1954-1968). As we all know, the Civil Rights Movement worked to end discrimination against African Americans. Before the American Civil War, most black people were slaves, especially in the South. After the Civil War, although black Americans enjoyed freedom, only whites were allowed to vote, and some places even limited citizenship to only whites. The poem illustrates the differences between African Americans and whites during the civil rights era and shows the depth of the feeling of living unjustly. While many African Americans were free at the time Angelou published this poem, this poem lets us know that African Americans still did not feel free. Because of the color of her skin, she often felt like no one would hear her voice and she felt like she was still experiencing slavery in some way. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay This poem has seven stanzas in total. In the first and second stanza, the author refers to nature and describes the birds' struggle against the orange sky, which shows the reader the appreciation of the bird in its natural habitat. The third and fourth stanzas describe a caged bird next to the free bird that can barely see the sky. The author uses the word “but” to begin the third stanza, which changes the tone of the poem from contented and joyful to dark and frustrating. Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird struggling to escape its cage in these two stanzas, as a major symbol throughout her poem. The caged bird represents Angelou's restriction resulting from discrimination. In the fifth stanza, the author returns to the free bird and describes more differences between it and the caged bird. She writes that the free bird enjoys “the gentle trade winds through the sighing trees.” The list of frequently banned books that everyone should read. The next stanza again spoke of the real life of the caged bird. It reveals the author's feeling about his own dream of ending discrimination in the United States and allowing all African Americans to gain legal recognition. The author again uses the metaphor of his cage made up of discrimination and racism. Even though she sang, she felt as if her voice was not heard throughout the world, but only by those closest to her cage. The final stanza continues to focus on the caged bird. “The caged bird sings with a fearful trill; of things unknown but always desired. This is the only stanza repeated in this poem, which is the same as the fourth, which means that it is very important and significant in this poem. This implies that even though the caged bird has never known freedom, it still “sings a fearful trill” because it is created for freedom. In the first three stanzas, there are only two lines of rhyme, which are “cage.