SOURCE: Hagen, Lyman B. “The Autobiographies.” In Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou, pp. 54–73. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1997.

In the following excerpt, Hagen traces the critical reaction to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

The title of Angelou's first long book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970), was suggested by Abbey Lincoln Roach. The appropriateness of this borrowed line is most apparent when it is considered in its original presentation. It is taken from a line in Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, “Sympathy.” Asked by an interviewer why does the caged bird sing, Angelou replied,

I think it was a bit of naivete or braggadoccio … to say I know why the caged bird sings! I was copying a Paul Laurence Dunbar poem so it's all right. I believe that...