____When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
____When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals -
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
____Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
____And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting -
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
____When his wing is bruiesed and his bosom sore, -
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
____But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings -
I know why the caged bird sings!
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