Named source · 1899

Sympathy Quotes by Paul Laurence Dunbar: Context & Meanings

1 quotation linked to Sympathy by or associated with Paul Laurence Dunbar, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—

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“I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—”

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Meaning & context

Dunbar links the caged bird’s song to injury and frustrated freedom, making the voice a plea born from confinement rather than uncomplicated joy.

Source details

“Sympathy,” published in Lyrics of the Hearthside (1899) and represented by Poetry Foundation. The caged-bird image became one of Dunbar’s most influential metaphors for constrained freedom and suffering; the record keeps the poem’s figurative language rather than assigning one exhaustive historical interpretation.

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