The tone of Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem "Sympathy" is one of desperation and agony; yet, there is also a reverent understanding for this unconquered, though desperate, human spirit.
There is an old Negro spiritual that contains these lines,
Ole Satan is mad en I am glad
Ain't got tired yit
Missed a soul he thought he had
En I ain't got tired yitOh, been in de war so long, ain't got tired yit
Oh, been in de war so long, ain't got tired yit
The little caged bird exemplifies this same unconquered spirit of the speaker of this spiritual. This bird must sing, or he will die. He must beat his wings against the bars of his cage in the desperate hope that one day somehow those bars will break and he will escape the misery and oppression he endures.
The speaker of "Sympathy" also feels the frustration and helpless rage of the bird that is a symbol of the repressed spirit of the "Negro." Both the bird and the speaker are confined against their wills and repressed; now, all they can do is pray and send "a plea upward to Heaven."
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