The Bluebird

The Bluebird

by Charles Bukowski 

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that.
wants to get out.
but I’m too tough for him,.
I say,.
stay down, do you want to mess.
me up?.
you want to screw up the.
works?.
you want to blow my book sales in.
Europe?.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that.
wants to get out.
but I’m too clever, I only let him out.
at night sometimes.
when everybody’s asleep..
I say, I know that you’re there,.
so don’t be .
sad.

.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

Meanings of The Bluebird

Charles Bukowski’s poem “The Bluebird” presents the thoughts of the speaker about this bird whose existence he keeps a secret from the outside world and informs the bird about it. However, inwardly, the speaker wants to assert the existence of this creative power that lies in his heart and that he nurtures and spoils with love.

Meanings of Lines 1-6

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.

The speaker, who is possibly the poet himself, states that the bluebird is in his heart. It wants to win freedom. However, the poet has curbed its freedom and kept it in his heart with limitations on it that it should stay there and that the poet is not going to free it for public display. He states that he would not allow it to go out of this imprisonment. Actually, the poet has used an extended simile for this power of creativity in him and has not informed about it to anybody. These verses show the initiation of the main idea of the poem, which is creative power.

Meanings of Lines 7-16

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

The speaker has made this bluebird verse a refrain and repeated it in the very first line of these verses. His view is that the bluebird wants to break the restrictions and get out. However, the poet nurtures it with whiskey and smoking. Even the people that the speaker visits stay unaware of the existence of this bluebird. The whores, the bartenders, the clerks, and others do not know that it resides in the heart of the speaker. Therefore, these verses further add to the main idea of creativity, creative power, and its attendant features.

Meanings of Lines 17-34

there’s a bluebird in my heart that.
wants to get out.
but I’m too tough for him,.
I say,.
stay down, do you want to mess.
me up?.
you want to screw up the.
works?.
you want to blow my book sales in .
Europe?.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that.
wants to get out.
but I’m too clever, I only let him out.
at night sometimes.
when everybody’s asleep..
I say, I know that you’re there,.
so don’t be .
sad.

The speaker repeats almost all the verses to assert that this bluebird intends to get out, but he asks it whether it wants to stay peacefully or wants to create a mess for him. He says that this effort of the bluebird is screwing up his work and creating issues for him. The bluebird will create problems for his book-writing activity in Europe, causing a blow to his livelihood. That is why he has become clever and keeps a lid on it so that it could not cause him harm. When other people take a rest and sleep, he talks to this bluebird and asks him to stay there and not be sorrowful as he is taking care of him. The extended metaphor has gone too far, and the poet states that he keeps this creative power secret and away from other people. These verses make up the entire main idea of the poem, which is the existence of creative power.

Meanings of Lines 35-46

then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

The speaker turns to his readers, saying that as the bluebird does not shut its mouth and starts singing, he lets him do these activities. He lets his bluebird sing and sleep. These activities keep it alive and active. In fact, the speaker sides with the bluebird and stays with it, the reason that it is nice to him. It is an agreement between them that it is good to make a person cry and weep, but the speaker does not weep. Therefore, he asks the bird whether he weeps. These verses contribute further to highlighting the power of creative energy in the speaker.

Summary of The Bluebird

  • Popularity of “The Bluebird”: The Bluebird by Charles Bukowski, a great German-American poet and writer, is a symbolic, poetic piece. It was published in 1992 in an anthology, The Last Night of the Earth. The poem describes the speaker’s strange relationship with his emotions. It also shows his inability to accept that he can always be clever and strong. The popularity of the poem lies in the fact that it states the situation of a man who hides his true face from the world.
  • “The Bluebird” As a Representative of Human Nature: This poem is about how we manage to stay strong and calm in our lives. It starts with a confession. The speaker says there is a bluebird in his heart who desires to come out. Instead of listening to the bird, the speaker wants him to stay trapped inside his chest. He moves from line to line to show how he keeps the bird weakened by pouring whisky on it and inhaling cigarettes. He tries his best to hide the bird from the eye of the world. However, the bird keeps wrestling; he seems eager to break the cage. But the writer never allows him to create a mess in his seemingly contented life. He cleverly argues with the bluebird and wins during the daytime. However, as soon as the night falls, he lets the bird come out for a while. He embraces it and then puts it back. He admits that the bird constitutes his special and sacred part.
  • Major Themes in “The Bluebird”: The art of hiding, man versus the world, and human nature are the poem’s major themes. This poem revolves around an alcoholic and smoker person, effectively spending quality time with people of different standards yet not revealing his inner self to anybody. The bluebird may stand for his weaknesses, guilt, fear, or even creative power, which he prefers hiding from society. The writer’s decision to hide the bluebird shows his mature approach to life. Perhaps he knows when people trace our weaknesses or potential, they try to play with our emotions. This poem beautifully conveys that we are all made of the same flesh, no matter how strong we look from the outside. We all are full of emotions, undivided passion, divine expression, and creative power. In the social circle, almost everyone tries to look strong and satisfied. Through this free verse poem, the writer spotlights the flaws in our social structure, where we find it challenging to get in touch with our souls and bring out feelings of sensibility and vulnerability or show our genuine creativity.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Bluebird

literary devices are tools that writers use to embellish their simple texts. Charles Bukowski has used many literary devices in the poem, whose analysis is as follows.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “there’s a bluebird in my heart that” and the sound of /o/ in “stay down, do you want to mess.”
  2. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “there’s a bluebird in my heart that” and the sound of /r/ in “and the whores and the bartenders.”
  3. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out.
but I’m too tough for him

  1. Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. This is an ironic poem. It shows how we struggle in everyday life to hide our tensions, worries, and fears from the world.
  2. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Charles Bukowski used imagery in this poem such as; “there’s a bluebird in my heart that”, “you want to blow my book sales in Europe?” and “and we sleep together like.”
  3. Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. The writer has posed rhetorical questions at many places in the poem to emphasize his point, such as, “stay down, do you want to mess. me up??” and “you want to screw up the. works??”
  4. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The bluebird symbolizes fear, worries, problems, and guilt.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Bluebird

Poetic and literary devices may sound alike, but there is a difference between them. Literary devices bring richness to the text, while poetic devices set an appropriate structure for the poem. The analysis of the devices used in the poem is as follows.

  1. Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
  2. Repetition: There is a repetition of the following verses, which has created a musical quality in the poem such as;

“there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,”

  1. Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called a refrain. The following verse is repeated with the same words, and it has become a refrain as it has been repeated in all stanzas of the poem, such as;

“there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,”

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote when relating to the people and the ways they wrestle with their emotions once the night falls.

“there’s a bluebird in my heart that.
wants to get out.
but I’m too clever, I only let him out.
at night sometimes.
when everybody’s asleep..
I say, I know that you’re there,.
so don’t be .
sad.”