Summary of the poem Sympathy, by Paul Laurence Dunbar

About the poet:  Sympathy is a poem written by African- American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906).His parents were enslaved in Kentucky before the Civil War. Dunbar was a prodigious child who started writing stories and verse at the age of six. At the age of 16, he published his first series of poems. The above mentioned poem was published in a collection titled lyrics of the Hearthside in1899.Being a Black American; it is obvious that he experienced the racial discrimination and prejudice rampant in the society. The pain of slave captivity has been expressed poignantly in the poem.
Summary of the poem:  In the first stanza, the poet persona affirms that he knows what the captive bird feels being confined in a cage .It is a heart rending experience for the captive bird to see the bright sunbeams radiating through the hilly slopes and to watch the crystal clear river flowing gently. When the first bird sings and the first bud blooms emanating its mild fragrance, the caged bird feels restless, as he could not enjoy it due to his captive state.
  The plight of being imprisoned in a cage has been plaintively described by the poet persona in the second stanza. He asserts that he knows why the detained bird desperately beats his wings against the iron bars of the cage. The bars are stained with the blood of the bird’s wings. He yearns to fly back to his perch and cling on the swinging bough. The scars of the bird are old but still throbbing in pain, as the agony is permanent and excruciating.

 The poet persona knows why the bird sings. Even when his wings are injured and his bosom swelled due to the injury, the bird sings fervently .It is not a melodious song of exuberance and delight, but a mournful prayer that he sends from the deepest corner of his heart. It is his earnest imploration catapulted towards heaven.

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