500 Poems
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou (born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928) an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly acclaimed, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), tells of her first seventeen years. It brought her international recognition, and was nominated for a National Book Award. She has been awarded over 30 honorary degrees and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie.
Angelou was a member of the Harlem Writers Guild in the late
1950s, was active in the Civil Rights movement, and served as Northern
Coordinator of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership
Conference. Since 1991, she has taught at Wake
Forest University
in Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she holds the first
lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies. Since the 1990s she has
made around eighty appearances a year on the lecture circuit. In 1993, Angelou
recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill
Clinton's inauguration, the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since
Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. In 1995, she was
recognized for having the longest-running record (two years) on The New York
Times Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List.
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,
Angelou was heralded as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African
American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life. She is
highly respected as a spokesperson for Black people and women. Angelou's work
is often characterized as autobiographical fiction. She has, however, made a
deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by
critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her books, centered on themes
such as identity, family, and racism, are often used as set texts in schools
and universities internationally. Some of her more controversial work has been
challenged or banned in US schools and libraries.
1.
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Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size |
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2.
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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both |
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3.
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You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies, |
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4.
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I want you to know
one thing. |
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5.
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Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die |
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6.
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It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea, |
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7.
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Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now, |
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8.
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If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; |
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9.
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Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though; |
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10.
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The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind |
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11.
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Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice. |
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12.
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I do not love you except because I love you;
I go from loving to not loving you, |
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13.
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Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole, |
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14.
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The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned, |
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15.
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It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream. |
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16.
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From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen |
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17.
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Don't go far off, not even for a day, because --
because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long |
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18.
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I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, |
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19.
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Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day; |
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20.
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Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep. |
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21.
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PART ONE
I |
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22.
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254
"Hope" is the thing with feathers— |
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23.
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When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. |
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24.
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I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end. |
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25.
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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost; |
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