Caged Bird by Maya Angelou Essay Example for Free

Caged Bird by Maya Angelou EssayQuestion Explore the ways in which the poets in the following poetrys use imagery to vivid effect. Use examples from both the poems.Caged Bird by Maya AngelouBefore the Sun by Charles MungoshiThe poem, Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, dramatizes the secernment between the blacks and the whites. As this issue relates to the life of the poet, she expresses her way of thinking through this poem. The poet speaks about two birds, one which is free, expressing the freedom which the blacks desire, and another a caged bird, articulating their actual standing. The poet puts across her thoughts in order to evoke an emotion of sympathy towards the Afro-Americans, from the readers.To give a more vivid and an effective outcome, the poet has used various imageries to convey an array of feeling. The poet talks about the liberty of the free bird by saying,dips his wing in the orange suns rays and d ars to claim the sky1.This sentence gives us the impression of how the free bird opens its locomote and flies around in the blue sky, without any obstructions by anyone. This is a desire which the Afro-Americans in the society had, as they were always under restrictions by the whites. In the next stanza, we see that, Maya speaks of a caged bird that can,seldom see through his bars of ragehis wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing2.This image of the condition of the caged bird gives us the knowledge that it cannot fly or even walk, on top of it, the bars of the cage makes him furious. The Afro-Americans of the valet were in the same position, where the limitations were raising their temper, however they could not demand and fight for their justice.There was a terror in the voice of the caged bird as the poet says that itsings with a fearful trill3.Being restrained from many matters of life, a dread of panic had entered the Afro-Americans. They were terrified of each and every move of the whites, although they longe d for a day when they will put one over freedom. caged bird sings of freedom4, through this sentence, the poet compares the caged bird and the Afro-Americans of the society, as both hopes for free will. A very hygienic imagery of the horror of the Afro-Americans is being given in the 5th stanza of the poem. Maya uses the words, stands on the grave of dreams5, to show how the hardships and frustrations of living in a segregated Afro-American community has forced the Afro-Americans to think that their wishes and demands have come to an end, as they are dominated by the rules of white people.An image of a grave tells us that the surrounding is dark, lonely and gloomy therefore we get an impression about the kinds of thoughts which go across in the Afro-American group of peoples minds. They face so much of annoyance and dissatisfaction that, just a nightmare can make even their shadows clamor of terror. The last stanza of the poem again repeats the lines in the third stanza, emphasi zing on the yearning of freedom by the Afro-Americans, though having a dread in them. Therefore, we dictum how Maya Angelou has used various effective imageries in conveying the sentiments and emotions of the Afro-Americans.The poem, Before the Sun by Charles Mungoshi, sensationalizes the emotions of a child who is in his childhood, but on the verge of meet an adult. The male child is on the threshold of maturity. The poet speaks about a child, who is in his adolescence and who is very close to nature. Therefore, the poet uses vivid imageries of nature to convey the thoughts of the son. The son communes with nature and the universe. We read the poem through the sons voice.In the first stanza itself, we get the hint that the boy is close to the nature. We can see that, the child is waiting for the sun to come up as he says,Intense blue morningpromising early heat6,so that he can have a new start of the day. The figurative centre of this would be that, he is waiting for his manho od to come. His childhood is the night, which is innocent of the activities going on in the world, and the sun for which he is waiting is his adulthood, which will bring a new day in his life. This day is revealing, which results in a loss of innocence of the night, i.e. the boys childhood, as he will gain experience.The second stanza is an image, where we visualize the boy cutting a wood with an axe. This is a very effective image, as we actually have the vision of cutting of a tree and, the lams flying away. This is shown as Mungoshi says in this stanza,The bright chipsfly from the sharp axe7.The word, arc, is very effective, as it has both, visual and an audible image, of the short span of time when the axe is whacked on the tree, and the chip of the wood, flies and settles down n the grass, making the spurt of an arc in the air. The third stanza has an imagery of a, big log8, of wood being wanted by the boy to cut. A sense of achievement is being shown by Mungoshi, which the b oy desires, as he is in his teenage years.The fifth stanza has again a very strong and an effectual imagery of the wood being cut, and dust coming out of the wood. The phrase,It sends up a thin spiralof smoke which later straightensand flutes outto the extreme sky a signal-of some sort,or a sacrificial prayer.9This is a visual image, where the boy tells the readers, that how, when the wood is being cut, the smoke makes a spiral shape and moves up. The words, flutes out, tells us that the smoke makes a sound while going up, which is very similar to the sound of a flute. The boy considers moving away towards his adulthood by sacrificing his childhood, as a result he says, that the smoke which is going is, a sacrificial prayer.The wood hisses,The sparks fly10,is an imagery of log of woods burning in the fire, and the sparks makes a kind of sound. This fire can be the image of a sacrificial fire, as he imagines of sacrificing childhood.The last stanza of the poem has an imagery of the process of eating, as the boy says, taking bigalternate bitesone for the sun,one for me11.The last line, two little skeletons in the sun, tells us that the two skeletons are two cobs of maize which the boy was eating, although, this image can be the remains of his childhood, which he sacrificed. Therefore, we see how Charles Mungoshi has used vivid and effective visions and sounds to portray the feelings of the boy in moving towards maturity and adulthood.In the end, it is seen that both the poems have one major theme in common, i.e. the desire of freedom. The Afro-Americans symbolized by the caged bird wants the freedom of rights and speech, and on the other hand the adolescent boy wants to enjoy the same lack of restrictions enjoyed by the adults. Both of them are impatiently waiting for their freedom.1 Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou Stanza 1, l-32 Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou Stanza 2, ll-5-63 Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou Stanza 3 l-74 Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou Stanza 3 l-105 Caged Bird, by Maya Angelou Stanza 5 l-146 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 1 ll-1-27 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 2 ll- 5-68 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 3 l-129 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 5 ll- 20-2510 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 6 ll- 26-2711 Before the Sun, by Charles Mungoshi Stanza 8 ll- 38-41