lesson 2

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/maya_angelou/poems/496
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/maya_angelou/poems/492
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/maya_angelou/poems/482
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise.Does my sassiness upset you?Why are you beset with gloom?'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room.Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise.Did you want to see me broken?Bowed head and lowered eyes?Shoulders falling down like teardrops.Weakened by my soulful cries.Does my haughtiness offend you?Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard.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, I'll rise.Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise.


Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's sizeBut when I start to tell them,They think I'm telling lies.I say,It's in the reach of my armsThe span of my hips,The stride of my step,The curl of my lips.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.I walk into a roomJust as cool as you please,And to a man,The fellows stand orFall down on their knees.Then they swarm around me,A hive of honey bees.I say,It's the fire in my eyes,And the flash of my teeth,The swing in my waist,And the joy in my feet.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.Men themselves have wonderedWhat they see in me.They try so muchBut they can't touchMy inner mystery.When I try to show themThey say they still can't see.I say,It's in the arch of my back,The sun of my smile,The ride of my breasts,The grace of my style.I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.Now you understandJust why my head's not bowed.I don't shout or jump aboutOr have to talk real loud.When you see me passingIt ought to make you proud.I say,It's in the click of my heels,The bend of my hair,the palm of my hand,The need of my care,'Cause I'm a womanPhenomenally.Phenomenal woman,That's me.




Touched by An Angel by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courageexiles from delightlive coiled in shells of lonelinessuntil love leaves its high holy templeand comes into our sightto liberate us into life.Love arrivesand in its train come ecstasiesold memories of pleasureancient histories of pain.Yet if we are bold,love strikes away the chains of fearfrom our souls.We are weaned from our timidityIn the flush of love's lightwe dare be braveAnd suddenly we seethat love costs all we areand will ever be.Yet it is only lovewhich sets us free.










I like this poet’s way of writing. She does not tell us things directly and most of the times we must infer. Like for example the poem “Phenomenal Woman” in the first paragraph, she did not tell us what the secret was about or what it was but she mentioned pretty woman. It gives reader a feeling that the secret must be some kind of way to attract me or become beautiful since it involves pretty women. Almost all women want to become more beautiful and especially pretty women since they take pride in their beauty and refuse to lose in terms of beauty.

For almost every paragraph she writes she ends it with the title of the of the poem. I do not really like that as it really irritate me a lot to see the title again and again but I still like her overall work. When I read Phenomenal Woman I always wondered what the secret was about, then I look at the line where she mentioned that the women did not believe her so I thought that there was no secret as she was just being herself.

The poem “Still I rise” and “Touched by an angel” seemed to have some link with her actual life. Since she was a black she was probably discriminated by the others. She was also raped when she was young. She did not lead a good life in her childhood days and was probably in misery and pain. Later when she was 16 she gave birth to a child. Somewhere during that time maybe she found someone she loved and he freed her from the misery.

She is a very capable woman. She held multiple jobs like fry cook, dancer, actress, journalist, educator, television producer, and film director.

What happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore--And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over--like a syrup sweet?Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.Or does it explode?





Similes are used for this poem as the poet wanted to give the readers an idea of what a deferred dream in his opinion like "dry up like a raisin' in the sun". Personification is also used for this poem. The poet mentioned that the dream would run, giving the idea that it may just disappear someday. Hyperbole is used throught this whole poem. The poet exaggerated a lot like fester like a sore. In reality this kind of things would not happen, maybe he was just trying to relate a dream to some kind of living thing that is neglected.






This poem does not have a unique style of writing but the words used are very unique. Syrup by itself is already very sweet, but the poet added crust and sugar on it which made the syrup as sweet as possible. The poet compared the smell of the dream and the two examples are very far apart. I do not know what his motive is but I just find it very interesting. The poem is simple and the words are easy to understand but the inner meanings are difficult. It may just seem like a guy expressing his thoughts about a deferred dream but I believe that there is a much deeper meaning in it though i do not know what it is.