Context

Do you know why the caged bird sings?

This stanza occurs twice in Maya Angelou's famous poem "Caged Bird."

The poem starts with two stanzas, one describing the free bird and one describing the caged bird—followed by these lines. Then the structure repeats itself. This stanza becomes the crux of the poem, which, from the title, we can tell is centered on the experience of the caged bird. Anyone up for a Metaphor-with-a-capital-M?

Where you've heard it

If Maya Angelou talking about caged birds sounds familiar to you, you're not crazy; you're just thinking of her first and most famous memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. This caged bird metaphor must've been pretty important to her, so we'll give you the run down.

In the stanzas about the free and caged birds, they're contrasted in their ability to fly. While the free bird "dares to claim the sky," the caged bird has its wings clipped and its feet tied. Luckily, its beak is still operable, and so it does the only thing it can: it sings.

Most folks agree that the caged bird is a metaphor for oppressed African Americans, which makes singing both a very literal thing (like the spirituals of slaves) and a symbol for the expression of hope for freedom and equality. 

Maya Angelou is herself a caged bird, and this poem is her "fearful trill."

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Not everyone gets to read her poetry for Bill Clinton.