Compare and Contrast

Caged Birds and The Lioness

Two poems about caged animals, with a different, deeper meaning in each. In
the poems, Caged Bird by Maya Angelou, and The Lioness by Adrienne Rich, both
poets wrote about animals being trapped in a cage and not able to be free. In both
poems, there are many similarities and differences between the themes, metaphors,
literal meanings, moods, and the poets themselves.
Caged Bird and The Lioness have many things in common. First, they are
both about the lack of being free and not having freedom. For instance, The Lioness
is a lion who is trapped with nothing to do, and in Caged Birds it is a bird who is
trapped inside a cage with no hope to get out. Secondly, the poems are similar
because the metaphors in each are about freedom and the lack of it. People took
freedom for granted leaving some people stuck without freedom in which the poets had
inspiration to write these poems. Lastly, the mood in both poems sets a tone in which is
very depressing, alone, and makes the poems sound stuck. For example, in Caged
Birds it says, his wings are clipped and his feet are tied which gives a depressing and
stuck feeling. In The Lioness it says lashed bars, the cage which makes the mood
turn dark and depressing.
In these poems there are a lot of similarities and not as many differences. There
are a couple differences. For example, the metaphors were similar in some ways but
also very different because of the hidden meaning. In Caged Bird the metaphor was
the comparing the lack of freedom between African-American people and white people.
Since the poet, Maya Angelou, was African American, she describes herself as the bird
who was trapped. In contrast, in The Lioness the metaphor is the lion being the poet
but trapped differently than in Angelous poem. Adrienne Rich is describing being
trapped as a women and not being able to be as free as men were. Secondly, both
poems have the same literal meaning but the animals are different. In Caged Bird, the
animal is a bird who is trapped and in The Lioness, the animal is a lion who is trapped.
Lastly, the difference is between the poets. Maya Angelou was raised in a racist
community as an African-American and she tells her story through the poem. On the
other hand, Adrienne Rich was raised in a time when men were more important than
women and she tells her story as a women lion who is stuck inside of the cage.
In conclusion, two poems that are alike and have the same theme are also
different in some ways. While there are more similarities than differences, the poems
were both very good poems and I loved how they were written. I particularly liked the
themes of freedom.