Poetry Homework 1

Section A
Caged bird by Maya Angelou
Academic Terms:
paraphrase, connotation, alliteration, meter, rhyme scheme, tone, repetition, point of view, type,
theme, symbolism, personification, metaphor,juxtaposition
Vocabulary:
free bird, caged bird, bars of a cage, sighing trees, shadow shouts

1.In your own words summarise the poem.

The poem describes the opposing experiences between two birds: one bird is able to live in
nature as it pleases, while a different caged bird suffers in captivity. Due to its profound
suffering, the caged bird sings, both to cope with its circumstances and to express its own
longing for freedom. Using the extended metaphor of the two birds, Angelou paints a critical
portrait of oppression in which she illuminates the privilege and entitlement of the un-oppressed,
and conveys the simultaneous experience of suffering and emotional resilience. In particular,
the poem's extended metaphor can be seen as portraying the experience of being a member of
the African American community.The bars of rage on the caged bird’s cage is supposed to
represent the bird’s blinding anger at being locked up.
The free bird is the polar opposite of its caged counterpart and serves to highlight everything the
caged bird lacks. The free bird has the freedom to do what a person would believe birds enjoy.
The free bird is able to do whatever it pleases, which is in sharp contrast to the caged bird which
can only ever hope for freedom.
The poem begins unexpectedly (given the title) with a description of the life of a free bird and
what a life he enjoys. He ‘leaps’ through the sky, exploring the world as far as he is able. He
‘floats downstream,’ following the course of a mighty river until it reaches the sea. The choice of
word ‘floats’ underlines how effortless the free bird’s life is: the river will carry him wherever he
needs to go. He floats ’till the current ends’ which is a metaphor suggesting that he can fly as
long as he likes, until the river meets the sea, at which point his horizons widen and he can fly
out over the entire ocean.In this way the river represents opportunities that life brings the free
bird, and implies that they are practically endless. The free bird is warmed by the sun and, in
another metaphor (‘dips his wings’), has the freedom to interact with the world too. The sun is a
symbol representing warmth, life, luxury. Wherever the free bird chooses to go, he is
guaranteed a life of ease and relaxation.
Maya Angelou presents the free bird. The strong verbs used are supposed to convey how static
the free bird is, and how it never seems to stay in one place. The free bird claims the sky as its
own for it never had anything else to share it with. Maya Angelou uses the two narratives to
create a jarring contrast. The condition of the cage bird seems even more distressing next to the
joy and happiness of the free bird’s life.
The most obvious technique in this poem is juxtaposition: you can try to pair almost everything
the free bird enjoys with its exact opposite in the caged bird’s world. Images as well as words
are juxtaposed: the free bird dares to claim the sky. By contrast, the caged bird stands on a
grave of dreams. Juxtaposition is all about creating contrast in ideas, words and even
sounds. Look at these examples from stanza four, In the fourth stanza the free bird enjoys
dining on fat worms: he is associated with languorous, warm liquid W and nasal M, N sounds:
winds, worms, waiting, dawn, lawn. The sounds blend and harmonize in a way that creates
euphony(the quality of being pleasing to the ear.). Apart from shadow shouts, the caged bird’s
lines contain a mixture of various hard consonants:(A consonant is a speech sound that is
not a vowel.) grave, dreams, nightmare, scream, clipped, tied. Combining different hard
consonant sounds is called cacophony: in combination with diction (nightmare, shout,
screams) it effectively suggests the terrible psychic state of a bird or person confined all their
lives.

2. List the ways bright imagery is used to show the freedom of the free bird.
Alliteration: Alliteration is a literary device in which a series of words begin with the same
consonant sound. This poem is rich with alliterations and its examples can be seen in the
repetition of /s/ sound in “seldom see through” and then /w/ sound in “worms waiting” and then
again /sh/ sound in “shadows shouts.”
Assonance: Assonance is the use of vowel sounds in quick succession. The poem has a
couple of assonances, for example, /i/ sounds in ‘distant hills’ and ‘sings with fearful hills’.
Consonance: Consonance means repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence
or phrase. In the lines “But a bird that stalks down” /b/ sounds have been repeated and in the
same way, /d/ sound is repeated in “trade winds.”
Imagery: As imagery pertains to five senses, this poem is full of different images. “free bird” and
“back of wind” images for sight and feelings. Similarly, there are some images such as “orange
sun rays” is for sight, and “throat to sing” is for hearing.Angelou has used vivid imageries.
‘‘distant hills’, fat worms’ etc are examples of visual imageries while ‘sighing trees’, ‘nightmare
scream’ and ‘fearful trill’ are auditory imageries.
Metaphors: There are two major metaphors. The first metaphor is of the free bird that is for the
white Americans or free people, while the caged bird is the metaphor of African Americans and
their captivity in the social norms.
Personification: Maya Angelou has used personification such as “sighing trees” as if trees are
feeling sorrow. Also, she has personified the bird by changing its pronoun from ‘its’ to ‘his’.
Symbol: Maya Angelou has used different symbols to show racial discrimination and social
construction against her community. The caged bird is a symbol of imprisonment, while his song
is a symbol of freedom.

3.How does the first stanza compare to the second stanza?

(Tip:Describe the tone and the words used to set the tone)
In the first stanza the poet describes what freedom must be like, even though the caged bird
had never experienced it. She uses words like floats downstream ,orange sun rays... to
emphasize the free life of that bird. She ends the stanza with and dares to claim the sky.This is
saying that even though that bird has the privilege of enjoying freedom, he still has the courage
to claim more for himself.
On the other hand, the second stanza describes the feelings of another bird, another soul; an
imprisoned soul, a caged bird. This bird has had his wings clipped and his feet tied, and is so
full of anger that he can seldom see through/his bars of rage. This metaphor, meaning that the
bird is so angry, so full of rage that he cannot act properly; he is confined within his own cage
created by rage. This can only lead to the bird being consumed by its own anger.
The poet uses a technique in which every even line rhymes with each other, except for the last
one.

4.List examples of juxtaposition in the poem.

(Juxtaposition- the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with a contrasting
effect,for example ‘’All’s fair in love and war’’)
A look at the poem’s subject shows us why Angelou chose to use the element of juxtaposition to
express her idea. She is looking at the idea of imprisonment (maybe slavery in particular) by
using two birds, one free and one imprisoned. Notice that she starts the poem with a stanza
about a free bird, followed by two stanzas about a caged bird, followed by another stanza about
the free bird, then back to the caged bird for the final two stanzas. She is alternating, or
“juxtaposing” her subjects.
5.What is the meaning of ‘’bars of rage’’ in the second stanza?Try to explain the whole
metaphor. What do you understand by the phrase “grave of dreams”? What is the impact of
both these phrases on you?
The caged bird is held by "bars of rage." This imprisonment goes deeper than simply putting the
bird in a cage, for "his wings are clipped and his feet are tied." This bird is not only caged but
also physically bound. His confinement is all invasive and takes any possibility of freedom away
from him. The bird's only solace is that he can still sing out. Even though imprisoned, the bird
cannot be silenced. Therefore, the "bars of rage" are the bird's pent up frustration and anger at
his situation.
In saying that the caged bird stands on "the grave of dreams," then, what Angelou is saying is
that the people the bird represents certainly have many dreams and ambitions of their own, but
that all of these ambitions and dreams are usually killed by society and oppression. As such, the
bird stands upon the "grave" of these dreams, as if in remembrance of them, knowing that it will
not be able to keep any of its dreams alive as long as it is within the cage. The bird sings of
freedom, something "longed for still," just like these dreams which have died.

6.Make a list of four or five words that evoke the dismal circumstances of the caged bird, and
say a little bit about why you’ve chosen each word.

7.identify metaphors used in the poem.

Refer to question 2 answer
Section B

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Browning

A sonnet is a fourteen line poem with a fixed rhyme scheme.

Academic Terms:
Hypophora(figure of speech where the writer asks a question and immediately provides the
answer),’metaphors,imagery,hyperbole(exaggerated statements),simile

1. What is the hypophora that is used in the poem?

Rhetorical questions set up a reflective tone to the poem; the speaker uses hypophora
(answers her own question) to try and define her love.
An example from the poem is ‘’How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.’’
2.Identify how nature is used to describe her love.
Barrett Browning also mentions the sun and candle-light while talking about her love. This line is
one of the only lines where she is using concrete imagery. She is using the image of light being
constant and abstract saying that her love will forever go on but with a sense of mystery. The
sun is also a very well known image for being strong, powerful, and good. Also, even when you
can’t see the sun, you know it’s there and you know that it will always come back and brighten
up your day. The sun is something human beings can’t live without and this is how Barrett
Browning is illustrating her love. She can’t live without him. By using ‘sun’ she can also link it to
‘love’, seeing as for her, that is what her love is, strong and passionate. Before that Barrett
Browning says “I love thee to the level of every day’s most quiet need”, implying that she needs
him, even when there is nothing special happening. That she just needs him in her life.
3.To whom does thee refer to in the poem?
Sonnet 43 expresses the poet's intense love for her husband-to-be, Robert Browning. So
intense is her love for him, she says, that it rises to the spiritual level
4.What are some examples of personification and simile in Sonnet 43?
"I love thee freely, as men strive for right." This is a simile because she compares the freedom
of her love for the addressee with the natural human impulse to "strive for right." The speaker
loves her loved one freely, without restriction or compromise, and this love is as natural and
commendable as the human impulse to follow one's conscience.

Browning also includes another simile with, "I love thee with the passion put to use / In my old
griefs, and with my childhood's faith." In this simile, the speaker compares the passion of her
love with the energy she used to put into her old enmities and her old grievances, and also with
the innocence and purity associated with childhood. Her love is thus something at once
energetic and innocent, determined and pure.
In the second and third lines of her sonnet, Browning also personifies her soul when she writes,
"My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight / For the ends of being and ideal...

5.What are the literary tools and tone used?

Metaphors and Similes
“I love thee freely, as men strive for right” (simile) – Using the word “as” to establish the simile,
the speaker compares the way in which she loves her husband to the way in which mankind
strives to do good in the world. Her love is as freely and spontaneously given as the dedication
of men who strive to accomplish good things for humanity.

“I love thee purely, as they turn from praise” (simile) – Using the word “as” to establish the
simile, the speaker compares the pure and humble nature of her love to the humility that decent
men exhibit. Just as decent human beings commit good deeds without expecting praise in
return, she loves purely without expectation of reward,.

“By sun and candle-light” (metaphor) – The mention of sun and candle-light serves as a
metaphor for the passage of time and the course of one’s life. The speaker’s love fills her days
and keeps her going through life.

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/ My soul can reach” (metaphor) – The speaker
attempts to quantify her love by measuring the physical space it takes up. As love is an abstract
concept which cannot be measured, the references to these measurements are intended
metaphorically to convey the immensity of her love.

Alliteration and Assonance

“I love thee” (alliteration) – The phrase is technically repeated throughout the poem. However,
lines seven through nine all begin with this phrase, emphasizing the sincerity of the speaker.

“I love thee with a love I seemed to lose” (alliteration) –The repetition of the “l” consonant rolls
off the tongue and creates a soft and somber tone.

“I love thee to the depth and breadth” (assonance) — The repetition of the short “e” sound in
“depth” and “breadth” produces a rhyme and gives the speaker a matter-of-fact tone. She
confidently measures the immensity of her love.

“I love thee freely, as men strive for right” (assonance and alliteration) – The words “thee” and
“freely” both contain a long “e” sound that gives the speaker a confident, liberated tone. The
long “I” sound contained in “strive” and “right” creates a heavy sound, suggesting the plight of
people who work hard to make things right for humanity.

Personification
“My soul can reach”— In a way, the soul is personified as a human being who reaches out, just
as the speaker attempts to “show” through measurements the very vastness of her love.

Section C

‘Farmhand’ by James K Baxter

Academic Terms:
half rhyme, formal rhyme scheme, connotations, stereotype, ambivalent, enjambment

Vocabulary:
yarn, stooks, old wound, secret night, envious, yarn to

1. Explore the ways in which the words memorably portray those people who make a living
through physical labour in Farmhand.
Youth, innocence, awkwardness and rural life — this poem encapsulates Baxter’s own
experience as a young man living in New Zealand.The title of the poem suggests that the man
is suited to work in a farm, and the word hand is repeated in the third stanza. It suggests that he
uses his hands mostly in a farm which is commonly associated with manual labour.
We should cultivate a loving relationship with our work — the farmhand takes a serious and
attentive approach to his work, which we should appreciate and admire rather than looking
down on him as a manual labourer or thinking that the work is too simple — ‘ah in harvest watch
him’ — the quotation demonstrates the speaker’s admiration for the man, he seems to be doing
a job that is perfectly suited to him.
A person should remain true to their nature — the farmhand doesn’t have any guilt or shame
about his job or lifestyle, which shows his strength of character and reaffirms the idea that he is
at harmony with his world; he does however express a little sadness and longing for a partner,
so we may hope along with him that he finds love in the end.
Not everyone is born to be ‘a romantic’ — romanticism and the world of love is represented in
the poem by the ‘dance’ — a world which the farmhand feels excluded from, as he is socially
awkward and not naturally suited to being romantic or following the standard rituals of courtship.
Relationships and love are not the only source of happiness in life — though the farmhand does
have hope and longing for a partner, he feels very content with his work and life otherwise, and
seems to take real pleasure from working on the farm.
There is beauty and grace in even simple or ‘lowly’ work — we should not look down on those
who do what is considered ‘unskilled labour’, though it pays less than other jobs there is a lot of
natural grace in working directly with the land on a farm, and in some ways it is more true to
human nature than an office or executive job.
Our physical appearance always reflects our inner character — there is a kind of connection
between the farmhand’s work and love of farming and his appearance — he is not shown to be
outwardly unattractive, but he has a ‘red sunburnt face and hairy hands’, due to his work.

2.Identify the themes of masculinity

In ‘Farmhand,’ the poet engages primarily with the theme of a man’s place in society. This is
expanded on throughout the poem as the speaker alludes to the difficulties in reconciling one’s
inner thoughts and desires with appropriate behavior in the broader world. While focusing on a
young man’s limitations, the poet also alludes to the complexities of what it means to be human,
no matter one’s gender. Through his use of clear and plain language, the poet allows all readers
to understand this young man’s experiences and familiarize themselves with his personal
difficulties.

3.What metaphors are used to describe the farmhand?