The Free Bird
The free bird is an uncaged bird who revels in his freedom to glide on wind currents and hunt juicy worms waiting on lawns. The speaker depicts the free bird as feeling entitled to the world it inhabits and oblivious to its privilege as a free creature.
The Caged Bird
The caged bird, unlike the free bird, lives its life captive in a cage. He has clipped wings and his legs are tied. To express his frustration at being held in a cage and his longing for experiences he has never known, the caged bird sings a song of freedom that reaches far beyond his cage.
The Speaker
The speaker of the poem is an unidentified omniscient voice that relates the perspectives of the free bird and the caged bird to the listener. The speaker's depiction of the caged bird's suffering and the free bird's oblivious entitlement suggests that the speaker sympathizes with the caged bird.
