Vivid and Versatile

Birds in nature are very versatile. They can be light, airy and joyous with canaries and swallows, or dark and brooding with crows and buzzards. Birds are often said to foreshadow something. Light melodies might signify love, and cawing might signify death. Birds can represent freedom, sorrow, love, anxiousness, or a myriad of other emotions. In Bukowski’s poem, the bluebird represents something in his heart he keeps a secret. The secret is burning to escape like a bird from a cage, but he keeps it locked up. In Oliver’s poem, the cardinal is depicted as a song-singing carefree creature, while the woman is seasoned with time and hardened. But even though she has hardened, she still has a song within in, much like the bird. In both these poems the birds represent something a human has, or wants. Both are locked up, and the imagery of a bird trying to escape a cage is vivid.