Analysis of The Tame Bird Was In A Cage
Rabindranath Tagore 1861 (Kolkata) – 1941 (Kolkata)
THE tame bird was in a cage, the free bird was in the forest.
They met when the time came, it was a decree of fate.
The free bird cries, 'O my love, let us fly to the wood.'
The cage bird whispers, 'Come hither, let us both live in the cage.'
Says the free bird, 'Among bars, where is there room to spread one's wings?'
'Alas,' cries the caged bird, 'I should not know where to sit perched in the sky.'
The free bird cries, 'My darling, sing the songs of the woodlands.'
The cage bird sings, 'Sit by my side, I'll teach you the speech of the learned.'
The forest bird cries, 'No, ah no! songs can never be taught.'
The cage bird says, 'Alas for me, I know not the songs of the woodlands.'
There love is intense with longing, but they never can fly wing to wing.
Through the bars of the cage they look, and vain is their wish to know each other.
They flutter their wings in yearning, and sing, 'Come closer, my love!'
The free bird cries, 'It cannot be, I fear the closed doors of the cage.'
The cage bird whispers, 'Alas, my wings are powerless and dead.'
Scheme | XXXAXX BXXB XXXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011100101110010 1110111100111 0111111111101 011101101111001 101101111111111 01101111111111001 0111110101101 0111111111101101 01011111111011 0111011111101101 11101110111011111 101101110111111110 110110100111011 0111110111011101 011100111110001 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,049 |
Words | 220 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 52 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 260 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 27, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 321 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Tame Bird Was In A Cage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29611/the-tame-bird-was-in-a-cage>.
Discuss this Rabindranath Tagore poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In