Question

Read the first stanza from the poem "Sympathy."

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!

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!
What is a central idea in the first stanza of the poem "Sympathy"?

A. The caged bird does not want to feel the sun or the wind.
B. The caged bird would like to sing a melody like the first bird.
C.The caged bird does not get the chance to experience the sights, sounds, and feelings of nature.
D. The caged bird would rather be a flower that opens with its smell of faint perfume.

Answer 1

I think it’s C because the stanza describes all the beauty of nature with its sights, sounds and feelings which might otherwise be temptations for a caged bird; one who cannot experience the same.