Read the excerpt from "the caged bird."
but a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
what is the figurative meaning of the excerpt?
the bird's cage has been placed so that it overlooks a
cemetery
the bird's cage is so small that it cramps his wings and
feet.
the caged bird has had his hope destroyed.
the caged bird is thinking very serious thoughts.

The caged bird has had his hope destroyed.

Explanation:

We need to analyse the central metaphor used in the excerpt in order to understand its message.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

In her poem "The Caged Bird", the poetess Maya Angelou refers to an enslaved African American as the caged bird. If it is standing on the grave of dreams. this means that the dreams are dead and buried - non-existent.

The hope is gone.

The following verses only affirm the hopeless situation the cage bird seems to continue to endure.

there are two main types of historical sources: primary sources and secondary sources. a primary source is something that originates from the past. it can be a chronicle, a piece of pottery, or even a piece of glacial ice that gives us climate data about the levels of atmospheric carbon one thousand years ago.