A few months ago, we came across Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird. This poem describes a “caged bird”—a bird that is trapped in a “narrow cage” with limited mobility, only able to sing about the freedom it has never had and cannot attain.
This caged bird is an extended metaphor for the Black community's past and ongoing experience of racism in the United States in particular, and it can also be read as portraying the experience of any oppressed group. The metaphor captures the overwhelming agony and cruelty of the oppression of marginalized communities by relating it to the emotional suffering of the caged bird.
We asked our colleague and expert on poem translation, Natasha Besoky, to provide a Spanish version of the poem and we’d like to share it with you. Enjoy!
Caged Bird
By Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
El pájaro enjaulado
Maya Angelou
Un pájaro libre salta
en el lomo del viento
y flota río abajo
hasta el final de la corriente
y moja su ala
en los rayos anaranjados del sol
y se atreve a reclamar el cielo.
Pero un pájaro que acecha
desde su estrecha jaula
apenas puede ver
por los barrotes de rabia
sus alas están cortadas y
sus patas están atadas
así que abre su garganta para cantar.
El pájaro enjaulado canta
con un temeroso trino
sobre algo desconocido
pero que aún es anhelado
y desde la lejana colina
se escucha la melodía
porque el pájaro enjaulado
canta por la libertad.
El pájaro libre piensa en otra brisa
y en los suaves vientos alisios a través de los árboles susurrantes
y en los gusanos gordos que esperan en el pasto iluminado por el alba
y declara que el cielo le pertenece.
Pero un pájaro enjaulado permanece sobre la tumba de los sueños
su sombra grita un grito de pesadilla
sus alas están cortadas y sus patas están atadas
así que abre su garganta para cantar.
El pájaro enjaulado canta
con un temeroso trino
sobre algo desconocido
pero que aún es anhelado
y desde la lejana colina
se escucha la melodía
porque el pájaro enjaulado
canta por la libertad.