This is similar to ‘Caged Bird’ in which when the bird is captured it always knows that it has its song and it can ‘Sing for freedom’ and although it gets captured and tied up, no one can stop its song. The structure of ‘Caged Bird’ is clearly stated in the verses and the poem moves at a steady pace, exploring the bird’s actions and feelings throughout the poem.
The first verse of this poem starts with the freedom of the bird and its joys of being able to do what it wants, but this is short lived and the bird is captured in the second and remainder of the verses. Although there is a theme of the bird’s song running through the whole poem, it is concentrated in verse three and the same verse is repeated as verse six. This is so that the reader doesn’t forget the message the poet is trying to portray.
The fourth verse is about the things the bird is looking forward to, if it manages to escape its captivity, but the reality comes back to the bird in the fifth and sixth verses, and so the bird returns to its song for freedom once again.
The arrangement of the first verse in ‘Caged Bird’ starts with one capital letter at the beginning and one full stop at the end, which suggests the movement and freedom of the bird.
‘Still I Rise’ has more of a hidden message. It does not contain a journey, unlike ‘Caged Bird’, although ‘Still I Rise’ has a distinctive rhythm, which stays the same until the last two verses, which the writer uses to get the message of the will for her to rise above the segregation across to the reader. The rhythm also suggests the marching of slavery, which again reinforces the message of the treatment of the coloured race.
The reference to the precious things on every other verse in ‘Still I Rise’ suggests that she is very proud that she is black and the precious thing are always referring to something that belongs to her, e.g. ‘My living room’, ‘My own backyard’ which also means that everything she has she is proud of and no-one is going to take it away from her, because it is hers only. The sixth verse has the words ‘shoot’, ‘cut’, and ‘kill’ in them, which could suggest the treatment the slaves received.
Enjambment is used in ‘Caged Bird’ to describe the movement the bird has. In the first verse, the verbs used describe the bird as being energetic and happy, but at the same time calm and tranquil, with no worries, and not in any danger. The verbs then progress in the rest of the verses, describing the bird being captured. Alliteration is also used in verse four to describe the bird’s dream and hopes should it escape. It used its song as its only hope for freedom, and this is expressed in the third, fourth and fifth verses. This is again to reach the message across to the reader.
In ‘Still I Rise’ verbs aren’t used as strongly although they are used to describe the main treatment coloured people received from the white race. The writer uses the word ‘you’ as the white race, she asks the whites what they want her to feel like, but by using the word ‘you’ it also makes the reader feel involved and in some ways guilty as she portrays it in a way which makes you feel like you have done the ‘crime’. The writer exclaims that even if they want her to feel ‘broken’ or ‘in pain’, she isn’t because she is proud of who she is.
It is clear in ‘Still I rise’ that she is standing up for not only herself, but for her whole race as she exclaims this by saying ‘I’m a black ocean’ which I believe means a vast amount of black people, which could also be interpreted as the movement of blacks. ‘I rise’ is repeated three times at the end of this poem to emphasise the message once more for the reader so they do not forget her determination and will to fight.
In my own opinion ‘Caged Bird’ was a really well written poem. Using the bird as the metaphor through the poem was definitely a good way of portraying the black race, and bring the poem to life. The last line of the first verse is longer, which makes it stand out, and makes a clear point, that the sky is the bird’s own. I think this was a good way of writing it, so that people would really understand the sudden loss of freedom the bird experienced once it had been captured.
In the eighth and ninth stanzas of ‘Still I rise’ the writer talks about the history of racism and the treatment they received. The first line of stanza eight starts with ‘out of the huts of history’s shame’ which is metaphorical as blacks were kept in huts. The first line of stanza nine starts ‘leaving behind nights of terror and fear’ which shows that she has risen above all that has happened, that she is proud and remains so from the start continuing through the poem, proving her point till the end.
In my view, I preferred ‘Still I rise’ as i think it helped people during the times of discrimination to realise that even though they were a different colour, they hadn’t done anything wrong and they should be proud of who they are, and rise above all the judgements.
‘Still I Rise’, is not only a good written poem, but it contains a message and I think that’s what makes it better than ‘Caged Bird’. It also has a lot of metaphors and similes in it, which makes the reader think about what the writer is trying to tell them.
Overall I think ‘Still I Rise’ is most effective, because It makes the reader think about their own actions and possibly what they would have done in the writers position, and personally I think as the poem is generally based at them, they would find it more interesting.