Comprehension

I. Answer these questions in one or two words.

Q1. Where was the poet born?
Answer: St. Louis, Missouri.

Q2. What does the word ‘clipped’ mean in the poem?
Answer: Fastened.

Q3. What does the caged bird do inside the cage?
Answer: It stalks down its cage and sings.

Q4. Where does the free bird dip its wings?
Answer: In the orange sun rays.

Q5. What does the free bird think of?
Answer: Another breeze and fat worms.

II. Answer these questions in a few words.

Q1. What does the free bird do downstream?
Answer: It floats “till the current ends”.

Q2. What is a trade wind?
Answer: A strong wind continually blowing towards the equator.

Q3. Why does the caged bird sing ‘a fearful trill’?
Answer: Because it is nervous and afraid.

Q4. What kind of song does the caged bird sing?
Answer: A song of freedom.

Q5. What does the phrase ‘grave of dreams’ mean?
Answer: That the hopes and dreams of a whole race of people are dead.

III. Answer these questions briefly.

Q1. What does the free bird symbolize?
Answer: The free bird symbolizes the powerful white race and people who are not subjected to racial discrimination.

Q2. What does the caged bird symbolize?
Answer: The caged bird symbolizes the oppressed black people, and their struggle for freedom.

Q3. Describe the helplessness of the caged bird.
Answer: The caged bird is helpless because its “wings are clipped and his feet are tied”. It can “seldom see through his bars of rage” and has to live on the “grave of dreams”.

IV. Answer these questions in detail.

Q1. What is the theme of the poem ‘Caged Bird’?
Answer: The central theme of the poem is the struggle for freedom and liberation against oppression and discrimination. The poem uses the contrasting images of a free bird and a caged bird to highlight the unjust social realities and the suffering of the black people in America. It is a protest against racism, segregation, and the limitations placed upon a race of people. Despite the hardships and pain, the caged bird’s song of freedom represents the perseverance and hope that persists even when dreams are shattered.

Q2. Compare and contrast the condition of the caged bird and the free bird.
Answer: The poem provides a strong contrast between the two birds. The free bird is a symbol of power and privilege. It “leaps on the back of the wind,” “floats downstream,” and “dares to claim the sky”. It thinks of things like “another breeze” and “fat worms,” and it “names the sky his own”. It lives a life of joy and opportunity.

In contrast, the caged bird is a symbol of oppression and subjugation. Its life is one of confinement and suffering. Its “wings are clipped and his feet are tied,” and it lives in a “narrow cage”. It stands on the “grave of dreams” and its shadow screams in a nightmare. However, despite this bleak existence, the caged bird possesses an incredible inner strength. While it cannot fly, it “opens its throat to sing” a song of “freedom,” a powerful act of defiance and hope.