Maya Angelous Poems Essay - 1288 Words

Maya Angelou’s Poems Maya Angelou’s poetry occupies a very special position in her development as a writer (Chow 1). As a child, Angelou went through five years of complete silence after she was raped at the age of seven years old, by a man named, Mr. Freeman. As a result of telling about her traumatic experience, her uncle’s literally kicked the man that raped her to death. Beings she spoke of her traumatic experience and the result of the man dying, she then imagined that her voice had the potential to kill. Thanks to her teacher, Bertha Flowers, at school Angelou started writing poetry as a means of expression of her life events through her poetry (Chow 1). Poetry thus played an essential part in the recovery of her voice, which in†¦show more content†¦She also conveys in this poem that hard times and painful past experiences aren’t reasons to avoid living life, but yet is a part of what makes one’s â€Å"life†. She uses death as a metaphor for lifeâ€℠¢s battles in her recurring phrase â€Å"I keep on dying†, but adds the idea of starting over and having another chance to overcome battles that are recurring in her life (12). The title of this particular poem, The Lesson is very significant to the poem within itself. The lesson that is preached in this poem is about the constant courage and determination in one’s life to defeat and her refusal to be overwhelmed by the challenges of life. Her hope as a determined woman will get her through her personal and physical tribulations, and even though each challenge in life offers her up a small dose of â€Å"death,† every time, it cannot keep her or anybody technically speaking down permanently. When there is a will, there is a way and Angelou always made a way to get back on her feet and keep it moving. Mayo Angelou explains the reality between struggles and the beauty of overcoming them in her poem called â€Å"Woman Work†. This poem is about a mother, preferably, a single mother that has children that she takes care of. The poem starts off by saying, â€Å"I’ve got children to tend / The clothes to mend / The floor to mop / The food to shop / Then the chicken to fry / The baby to dry / I got company to feed / The garden to weed / I’ve got shirts to press /Show MoreRelatedTwo Pesentations of Love in Maya Angelous Poems: ‘A Kind of Love, Some Say’ and ‘Where We Belong, A Duet’1008 Words   |  5 PagesThese poems written by Maya Angelou both portray love in a very different way. The detrimental effects of love are shown in ‘A Kind of Love, Some Say’ and the empowering effects of love are shown in ‘Where We Belong, A Duet’. ‘A Kind of Love, Some Say’ shows that Love and relationships is what caus es the struggle for identity as in the other poem being in love and in a relationship allows the persona to find their true identity. The poem ‘A kind of love some say’ is one of Mayas more emotionalRead MoreEssay on The Interpretation of None the Other, Maya Angelou1508 Words   |  7 PagesA poem can capture the mind, soul, and the bare heart, but, how can one’s interpretation of a poem alter the true value of the poem itself? The answer to this question may vary, depending on one’s interpretation. Then again, that response can be used to answer every question this world holds. Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. Hailed as a global renaissance woman, Dr. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, producer, actress, historianRead MoreEssay Personal Perseverance in the Works of Maya Angelou1313 Words   |  6 PagesPersonal Perseverance in the Works of Maya Angelou      Ã‚  Ã‚   Internationally respected brilliant poet, historian, and author Maya Angelou says in all my work I try to tell the human truth-what it is like to be human...what makes us stumble and fumbleand fall and somehow miraculously rise and go on from the darkness and into the light (Ebony 96). This theme is consistently exemplified throughout Angelous greatly acclaimed autobiographical worksand poems such as I Know Why The Caged Bird SingsRead More Maya Angelou: A Source of Humanity Essay1329 Words   |  6 PagesMaya Angelou: A Source of Humanity I am human, Angelou said, and nothing human can be alien to me (Shafer). Maya Angelou just may be the most human person in the world. Indeed, with all of the struggles she went through in her early life, her humanness increasingly deepened. Her life was characterized by the instability of her childhood and her family, along with the challenge of being a black woman growing up in 19th century America. The deepness of her humanness is evident in allRead MoreMaya Angelou: Speak Up Essay example1127 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou experienced a life-changing event at the vulnerable age of eight: her mother’s boyfriend raped her. As a result, she chose to be mute for five years due to the emotional trauma this caused. Soon, a family friend named Mrs. Flowers, a wealthy and intellectual woman from Stamps, Arkansas where her grandmother resided, read with Angelou and helped Maya to express herself through writing. Mrs. Flowers taught Maya â€Å"words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voiceRead MoreMaya Angelou1001 Words   |  5 PagesMaya Angelou You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, Ill rise. Have you ever been so influenced by such a small amount of powerful words? This brilliant quote extracted from Maya Angelous own poem, Still I Rise, basically brings out the spirit and nature of each of her publications. Maya Angelous works of poetry are seen as inspiration for those who have been discriminated for their public appearances. AsRead MoreEssay on Maya Angelou1185 Words   |  5 PagesDistress in Maya Angelous Life Marguerite Ann Johnson, commonly known as Maya Angelou, was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is a famous African-American poet, novelist, and playwright and also worked during the civil rights: Angelou is a very remarkable Renaissance woman who hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature (www.mayaangelou.com). She is also an activist in civil-rights. Angelou went through many controversies during her childhood and adulthood; herRead MoreWhat Criteria Make Up A Poem?1225 Words   |  5 PagesWhat criteria make up a poem? According to Terry Eagleton’s book How to Read a Poem, it suggests that a â€Å"poem is a fictional, verbally inventive moral statement in which it is the author, rather than the printer or word processor, who decides where the lines should end† (25). Terry Eagleton uses his own opinion to characterize what aspects he believes make up a poem. Eagleton argues that form and content are two different terms in regards to po etry; however, the form of a poem helps relate to the contentRead MoreMaya Angelou: A Model Woman Through Influential Literature Essay1708 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence on society itself. Maya Angelou is a great example of the model woman. She has beaten the odds and has become one of the most well known African American women of today. She is an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. Her most influential work comes from her extraordinary books and poems. Her literature has influenced the young and old with their contents. Maya Angelous literary significanceRead MoreA Comparison of ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou and ‘No Problem’ by Benjamin Zephaniah860 Words   |  4 PagesMaya Angelou is a internationally respected, brilliant poet, and author. Maya Angelou says In all my work I try to tell the human truth, what it is like to be human, what makes us stumble and somehow miraculously rise and go on from the darkness and into the light†. This theme is consistently exemplified throughout Angelous greatly acclaimed poem ‘Still I rise’. The poem shows us the true life story of Maya Angelous tragedies, and their dreadful conditions she had encountered in her youth. But