The poem "Caged Bird" was written by Maya Angelou. What literary devices are used in the poem?
The poem is free verse.The poem has a few slant rhymes and some totaladherence to the iambic meter.
"Dares to claim the sky" is a metaphor for the speaker's entitlement to the free bird as it flies."Bars of rage" is a metaphor for the blinding anger the speaker ascribes to the bird.
There are examples of alliteration in the poem."on a dawn bright lawn," and "current ends" are examples of assonance.
In juxtaposing the perspectives of the two birds, Angelou presents an instance of dramatic irony in which each bird is oblivious to the other bird's experience.
There is a shift between the open sky of the free bird's world and the narrow cage of that bird.
The caged bird in the poem expresses his longing for a freedom he has never known through song, using his voice to move through the space his body cannot access.
The sixth line repeats the third line of the poem.The fact that he has not attained freedom is underscored by the repetition of the caged bird singing his song of freedom.
When the bird opens his throat for a second time, the speaker predicts the repetition of the third line.
The speaker of the poem says, "I know why the caged bird sings."
The speaker assigns symbolic terms of freedom to the bird.The line "his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream" is a representation of the bird's shadow.
hyperbole is present when the free bird dares to claim the sky as he flaps his wings.The line "he names the sky his own" is filled with hyperbole.
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GradeSaver has an analysis of the poem in its study guide.You will find the information you are looking for.
The main idea is power.The sheer elation of freedom is described in the opening line.The uncaged bird sails on a current of wind and becomes a portrait of unfettered energy.