While reading, I felt a sense of sadness for the caged bird, as its undeniable determination was persistent and courageous. Along with the message of the poem, I also appreciated Angelou's unique sense of “unstructured verse” and her non-traditional poetic approach. It is clear that the caged bird represents African Americans and the free bird represents the white population, however, the poem is well written and sends this implicit message of African American repression in a poetic, yet clear manner.,