"Sympathy" Essay

Ian McShea
February 11, 2009
Why do we hate confinement? What is it that drives us to freedom? Naturally or unnaturally, people, humans, and all animals, hate confinement. Mobile creatures desire freedom. We seem to have a fear of confinement. Claustrophobia, the “abnormal fear of being in enclosed or narrow spaces”, is considered one of the most common fears. No one better summarizes this fear than famous poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, in his poem, Sympathy. Dunbar makes references to historical concepts, uses metaphors to enhance the poems meaning, and has an explicit meaning between-the-lines.

I found Dunbar’s historical references in “Sympathy” very interesting. In Sympathy, Dunbar refers to America’s hurtful pastime of racism. In one of his lines, the poem reads, “I know why the caged bird beats his wing till its blood is red on the cruel bars; for he must fly back to his perch and cling...” This quote portrays the hardships many blacks had to go through during the 1890s. They broke their backs just to get a little freedom. Hard to imagine how hard people fought for freedom, and how we take advantage of it.

However, I also loved the poet’s use of metaphors. In Sympathy, Dunbar, in the first stanza, shows us the view of the beautiful world outside the bird’s cage; the world the bird longs for. “…When the sun is bright on the upland slopes; When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass…” Words like this represent the beauty and freedom that blacks tried so hard to get to. Blacks worked so hard, but never could achieve greatness; until they had to fight for it. Just the metaphor of a “caged bird” drives this idea of confinement, and lost opportunity. A cage represents that all is lost; that there is no hope left. That you can’t reach anything beyond the bars.

Fighting brings you to my last point; Dunbar’s deep “beneath-the-lines” story. Paul Laurence Dunbar makes sure to let the reader know that he, as well as many other blacks, prayed that one day they could succeed. In the final stanza of the poem, Dunbar says “…When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings…” He wants the world to know that, not just blacks, but all people, who yearn for freedom, are crying out to the world, pouring their hearts out, just so they can achieve the same opportunity as others. They’re calling for equality, and freedom; they’re screaming so loud, in hopes that their screams will reach God, and he will answer their prayers.

This poem toys with the mind. Emotion overflows the reader with beautiful metaphors, and pathetic feelings of despair. Consider it a call to action, or a cry for help, either way, it pours through the soul. Its metaphors, history, and deep insight are tantalizing. They arouse the reader, and fill your head with new ideas and emotions. I haven’t read a poem with such passion in a while, and I’m glad to have picked this poem for my essay. So the next time you feel trapped or confined, pleading for a taste of freedom, try to sympathize with the bird.