500 Poems

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.	Phenomenal Woman Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size	by Maya Angelou on 1/1/2000
2.	The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both	by Robert Frost on 1/1/2000
3.	Still I Rise You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies,	by Maya Angelou on 1/1/2000
4.	If You Forget Me I want you to know one thing.	by Pablo Neruda on 1/1/2000
5.	Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die	by Langston Hughes on 1/1/2000
6.	Annabel Lee It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea,	by Edgar Allan Poe on 1/1/2000
7.	A Dream Within A Dream Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now,	by Edgar Allan Poe on 1/1/2000
8.	If If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;	by Rudyard Kipling on 1/1/2000
9.	Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though;	by Robert Frost on 1/1/2000
10.	I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings The free bird leaps on the back of the wind	by Maya Angelou on 1/1/2000
11.	Fire and Ice Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.	by Robert Frost on 1/1/2000
12.	I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You I do not love you except because I love you; I go from loving to not loving you,	by Pablo Neruda on 1/1/2000
13.	Invictus Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole,	by William Ernest Henley on 1/1/2000
14.	Television The most important thing we've learned, So far as children are concerned,	by Roald Dahl on 1/1/2000
15.	As I Grew Older It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream.	by Langston Hughes on 1/1/2000
16.	Alone From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen	by Edgar Allan Poe on 1/1/2000
17.	Don't Go Far Off Don't go far off, not even for a day, because -- because -- I don't know how to say it: a day is long	by Pablo Neruda on 1/1/2000
18.	I wandered lonely as a cloud I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills,	by William Wordsworth on 1/1/2000
19.	Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day;	by Dylan Thomas on 1/1/2000
20.	Do not stand at my grave and weep Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there. I do not sleep.	by Mary Elizabeth Frye on 1/1/2000
21.	The Highwayman PART ONE I	by Alfred Noyes on 1/1/2000
22.	"Hope" is the thing with feathers 254 "Hope" is the thing with feathers—	by Emily Dickinson on 1/1/2000
23.	Warning When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.	by Jenny Joseph on 1/1/2000
24.	A Poison Tree I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end.	by William Blake on 1/1/2000
25.	All That is Gold Does Not Glitter All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost;	by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on 1/1/2000

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