A Summary Of The Poem 'Symapthy'

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American poet in the 19th century - a time when racial discrimination was at its peak. Though Abraham Lincoln had succeeded in abolishing slavery a century ago, African-Americans had still not received the dignity and respect that every human deserves. The poem 'Sympathy' is about an old bird who has been caged and deprived of the freedom that all the other birds have. This caged bird is analogous to the African-Americans of that time and Paul Dunbar himself who felt suppressed by the White people in everyday life.

 

 The first stanza begins with the poet claiming to know what the caged bird feels. He uses vivid imagery to express why the caged bird is desperate to be free again. He misses the little things about nature – the spring mornings when the sun shines bright, the buds open, birds sing and a soft wind blows. A caged bird is like a bird with broken wings – helpless and desperate to be able to fly again.  Similarly, African-Americans were stripped of privileges enjoyed by other Americans making them feel trapped inside a social cage.

 

The second stanza tells about the bird’s perseverance and his fortitude. The bird beats his wings against the cage bars longing for freedom and deep down inside, he knows that there is no way of getting out, but he still tries and keeps trying till the bars are painted red with his blood. He must then cling to his perch while he still wishes to be able to sit on a tree’s branch in the outside world. This represents the freedom fighters who struggled and fought against racial discrimination till their last breath.

 

The third and final stanza talks about the prayer and the plea that the bird sings. The sounds the bird makes are not carols of joy and glee, but a cry for freedom. His wings are bruised and his bosom is sore but he doesn’t lose faith in the Almighty and prays to see the day when he is free to spread his wings and fly again.

This resembles the tenacity with which the African-Americans  fought for their freedom and the only reason that racial discrimination has come down to being almost non-existent today is due to the fact that they never lost hope and faith.

 

By Akanksha Kevalramani