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Poetry Analysis Assignment:

Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Sympathy, written in 1899 by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a lyric poem. This poem tells us

about a bird that is trapped in a cage and cant escape, the emotions that the bird feels while it is

trapped is described in this poem. The caged bird is used a symbolism for the Negro society and

the oppression that they faced. I chose this story because the topic that this poem discusses is still

a problem in this society and the way the poet has explained how the people of his color faced

discrimination, oppression and how they felt when going through that resonated with me. Paul

Laurence Dunbar is an African-American poet who was born in Dayton, Ohio on June 27, 1872.

His parents were enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War. He started writing poems

at a young age and was the first African-American to gain recognition internationally. He

experienced racism and the discrimination that he writes about in his poems and stories himself,

which is the reason that his words affect people so much. Paul Laurence Dunbar has described

the oppression and discrimination faced by the Negro society by comparing them to a caged bird.

The poem Sympathy tells the story of a little bird that is caged and does not have the

freedom to do whatever it wants and suffers every day. The poet has written that the little bird

feels entrapped and is trying with all his might to escape this misery that he constantly lives in

every day. I know what the caged bird feels, alas! (Stanza 1, line 1). The poet says that he can

completely understand what the bird is going through on a daily basis as he has felt those same

emotions in his life. The little bird here is used as a personification for the African-American

society and the oppression they had to face and how they were enslaved and treated inhumanely.
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It describes their pain in an almost lyrical way; the mood that this beautiful poem creates is one

of sadness and pain. I know why the caged bird beats his wing, till its blood is red on the cruel

bars (Stanza 2, lines 8-9) .

The bird is trapped and is trying his best to escape this prison, he tries and tries until it is

bleeding from all the injuries it has suffered from its struggle and the speaker says that he

understands the reason why the bird trying so hard, it is because he has experienced these same

feelings when he was discriminated against and when he was enslaved. The mood of this poem is

explaining the pain and misery of the bird which makes the reader sympathize with it and also

feel its struggle for a better life then what it is currently living. When the wind stirs soft through

the springing grass, and the river flows like a stream of glass (Stanza 1, line 3-4) (Dunbar,

1899). The poet has described the beautiful view and scenario of the nature that the poor little

bird is wanting to experience but alas! It is unable to.

Through the use of simile the poet has described how the river flows with clear water and

shines that it seems like it is a stream of glass. Also the use of consonance can be seen by the

repetition of the letter S. This helps the reader in imagining the beautiful view and it almost

seems like the reader can hear the sound of the wind blowing through the grass and the water

flowing in the river. And the faint perfume from its chalice steals (Stanza 1, line 6) (Dunbar,

1899). The poet has used the word chalice to describe a flower that opens and spreads its

perfume in the morning creating a blissful scene, he says that the little bird is unable to witness

this wonderful phenomena, instead it is trapped without any escape and is living in the dark. The

poem Sympathy, describes the feeling of a person being trapped against his will and how he feels
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wronged and is struggling every day of his life to be free from all the misery he is forced to

experience on a daily basis never having the freedom to do anything that he wishes to do. How

that person lives never being able to experience the world and all its beauty feeling content and

free from all kinds of worry and pain.

This poem is relatable to todays society as it talks about racism and all the struggles and

hard times the Negro people went through all these years and how they were the target of

oppression and we can see that this problem still exists to this day and the situation has gotten

better than before but it still isnt completely eliminated. We should read this and sympathize

with the people that went through this and look at ourselves and improve ourselves, we should

try to treat them as equals because we are all human beings and no one is above the other. We

should live together in a peaceful and friendly manner no discrimination and racism should be

done against people of any race no matter what color their skin is or what their ethnicity or

religion is. This poem should be appreciated for how skillfully the poet has described the feelings

that he wanted to express and eliciting the same feelings in the reader. The poet Paul Laurence

Dunbar has expressed the feelings of a little bird that is trapped in a cage as a personification of

the oppression faced by the African-American society.

References
Dunbar, P. (1899). Sympathy .