The poem compares a free bird and a caged bird. The free bird is able to fly wherever it wants and sings about what it possesses. In contrast, the caged bird is trapped and can only see a small portion of the world from its cage. It sings of freedom and the unknown things it longs for but is unable to obtain due to being confined to its cage. The poem is seen as an allegory for the experience of black Americans and their fight for freedom and equality during the 1960s when racism was still prevalent.