Maya+Angelou+6th

Maya Angelou, who is still around now, is a famous book writer and a poet. She was born April 4, 1928 in St.Louis Missouri. She was born in times of discrimination. She was raped at the age of 8. She told only her brother about it. Later on, her rapist was killed by her own uncles. She thought she had to do with it and went mute for up to six years. She then also spent her teen and early 20's in isolation and experimentation. At the age of 31, at MLK's request, she became ths northern coordinator of the southern christian leadership conference. She left America and from 1961-1962, became the associate editor of //The Arab Observer// in Cario, Egypt. Then, 1964-1966, she was feature editor of the //African Review// in Accra, Ghana. She finally returned to America in 1974. She was appointed bicentennial commision from General Ford. Later, she was then appointed commision for international woman of the year by Jimmy Carter. She became an overnight american figure. Maya is still alive today and is still going strong. She's only 82 years old actually. She has written many books and poems. Three of her poems that I thought were the best out of all of them I posted below.

//Beloved, In what other lives or lands Have I known your lips Your Hands Your Laughter brave Irreverent. Those sweet excesses that I do adore. What surety is there That we will meet again, On other worlds some Future time undated. I defy my body's haste. Without the promise Of one more sweet encounter I will not deign to die.// || **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 dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.
 * **Refusal by Maya Angelou**

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got// //oil// //wells Pumping 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 mines Diggin' 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 surprise That I dance like I've got// //diamonds// //At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my// //ancestors// //gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.// ||  ||   || **Alone by Maya Angelou** //Lying, thinking Last night How to find my soul a// //home Where water is not thirsty And bread loaf is not stone I came up with one thing And I don't believe I'm wrong That nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires With money they can't use Their wives run round like banshees Their children sing the blues They've got expensive// //doctors To cure their hearts of stone. But nobody No, nobody Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely I'll tell you what I know Storm clouds are gathering The wind is gonna blow The race of man is suffering And I can hear the moan, 'Cause nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.// ||  || of the poem was about a loved one she wants to meet just one more time. It gave me reasons to love one another. Rhyme:abcbdefghijklmno There's no poet devices used. || This is my favorite poem of hers. It's just so beutiful, really. The theme is about her baring through her tough experiences and still, like the poem says, she'll rise. Some historical context can be applicable. The times of slaves can be something that inspired her to write this poem. Rhyme:abcb defe ghih jklk mnon pqrq ststuuv svwwsss Personifacation, hyperbole, and simile are used. ||  ||  www.**poemhunter.com**/ **maya**-**angelou** [] [] Books used: ||  ||
 * This poem is really deep. The theme
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