The Theme of Freedom in Poetry Essay -- Maya Angelou Paul Dunbar Slave

The Theme of Freedom in PoetryWrite intimately trio poems on freedom On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged damn (Maya Angelou).I have chosen to write about three poems on freedom On Liberty andSlavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) andCaged chick (Maya Angelou). The full text of the poems is attached. Ichose these three poems beca lend oneself the subject matter appealed to me andI believe that the poems convey their meaning very effectively. Uponresearching the poems, I discovered that Caged Bird was in factinspired by Sympathy, which accounts for the similarities in languageand imagery, as outlined below. All three poems deal with the subjectof freedom exploitation the imagery of birds On Liberty and Slavery isnarrated as a gracious plea for freedom, and makes reference to birds inthat context, whereas Caged Bird and Sympathy both use the imagery ofcaged birds to explore the national of loss of freedom . The symbolism ofbirds is used to outline freedom, as birds are essentially withoutconstraints in comparison to the limitations of humans, they have infinite possibilities. When a bird is caged, however, it loses thatpotential and is restricted not by its throw limitations, but the limitsset by another. This image is explored within the poems to depict thetheme of slavery.On Liberty and Slavery----------------------On Liberty and Slavery is an showcase of a metaphysical poem it dealswith the concept of freedom using direct, own(prenominal) language andcontemporary allusions. The rhythm used in the poem is taken from therhythm of Wesleys hymns Charles Wesley was the brother of JohnWesley (founder of the Methodists) and hymn wri... ...ten by Himself (1845)Sherman JR The unrelenting get up of North Carolina George Moses Horton andHis Poetry Chapel Hill University of North Carolina inspire (1997)Rice, A Radical Narratives of the Black Atlantic, Continuum New York(2003)Sapphire Black Wings and dodge Angels, Payback Press Edinburgh(2001)McCarthy K bittersweet, The Womens Press Ltd (1998)Secondary Sourceswww.poets.org.uk (03/05/2004)http//docsouth.unc.edu/hortonlife/horton.htm (04/05/2004)http//www.christian-bookshop.co.uk/free/biogs/cwesley.htm(07/05/2004)http//www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/angeloum2.shtml(07/05/2004)---------------------------------------------------------------------1 Sherman JR The Black Bard of North Carolina George Moses Horton and His Poetry Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press (1997)