“Sympathy” a poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar can be interpreted in many different ways. An approach to interpreting this poem can start with an in-depth examination of the word use and vocabulary used to show the author feeling toward the subject. Another interpretation can be looked at from the figurative language used to form a metaphor. The metaphor chosen in this particular poem is a caged bird. The caged bird represents anyone who feels as if they are trapped or stuck in a certain circumstance and cant get out. The Arthur was referring to the metaphor as his parents stuck in there slavery. The caged bird is a good way to show how a slave or how a person feels when they are trapped or feel like they are in a scenario that they can't get out of. Today people relate to that same feeling, weather they are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or they are in a rough circumstances that they cant get out of and can't do what they want. …show more content…
The same metaphor as “Sympathy” and has a vocabulary that is higher level to give the poem more feeling. The metaphor is the same, caged bird, but Maya put another part to the metaphor. She added a free bird. She is referring to slavery and the non-slaves, but this also can be translated into anybody that is trapped/free. Today's world sees a lot of this. One example is how people see the male to be more dominant which makes the free bird and the female the less dominant or the caged bird if you will. Although there are many more ways to look at the metaphor this would have never been created if Maya Angelou never read