The Vicissitude of Maya Angelous

Journey to Self-Love
by Danielle Lizarraga
October 27, 2015
AP English Literature
Houk

Table of Contents

Forward.....Page 2
Poems by Maya Angelou...Page 3 - Page 9
Caged Bird.....Page 3
Phenomenal Woman.....Page 4
Still I Rise...Page 5
On the Pulse Of the Morning....Page 6 - Page 7
Weekend Glory.Page 8
Life Doesnt Frighten Me.....Page 9
Formalism of Maya Angelou.....Page 10
Cultural Poetic of Maya Angelou......Page 11
Pastiche Poem.....Page 12 - Page 14
Look Away...Page 12
Learn Teach........Page 13
I Love It, I Hate It...Page 14

Forward
Angelous writing style on a linguistic standpoint is simplistic in that everyone can
understand and isnt too difficult to interpret. She uses simple English in her diction and close to
no synonyms in her work that Ive read. Angelou also uses a lot of informal language such as
posin,puttin,livin,kiddin, or even aint as shown in her poem Weekend Glory. The

way Angelou uses the English language is reader friendly because the audience doesnt need to
have a wide vocabulary to understand what Angelou is wanting to say. Angelou wants everyone
to be able to read and understand her poem and therefore making the diction in her poems simple
and straightforward so that anyone who is reading understands her words. Angelou also likes to
use repetition. Her repetition is not shown so much in her shorter poems, but in her longer poems
she uses repetition quite a lot. In all of her poems, Ive noticed that shes a fan of punctuation.
She uses many commas and periods in her poems. In all of the poems Ive read of Maya
Angelou, her poems have all contained commas and periods. Angelou likes writing about
subjects, the ones shes written most about are women, family, relationships, equality, being of
color, and general things about life such as aging, feeling trapped, being poor, or love and war.
Angelou grew up in the Great Depression, lived through World War 2, was involved in the Civil
Rights Movement, was raped at a young age, she traveled a lot in Europe and Africa, and she
was a professional singer and dancer for nightclubs and for an opera in Europe. Angelou is a very
proud and self loving person, but she wasnt like that all the time, she was mute a young age after
she was raped, she is an african-american who was living in the south so there was a lot of
injustice to her, and she is a woman. I believe she eventually became being so proud and self
loving because she was dancing and singing and got attention in the clubs so she obviously knew
she was being noticed, but she also said in an interview that she became that way through
literature and thats when she stopped being mute. The reason I chose the poems I did was
because they all are centered around the themes Angelou likes to wire about, they are her most
popular poems, and they show the writing style that Angelou uses in most of her poems that was
mentioned previously.

Poems by Maya Angelou

Caged Bird
by Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

Phenomenal Woman
by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,

Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.
They try so much
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They think I'm telling lies.

I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

But they can't touch

My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They 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 woman

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

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 woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand

Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It 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 woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me

Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou

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You may write me down in history

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may tread me in the very dirt
But 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 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.

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

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?

On The Pulse Of Morning

by Maya Angelou
A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon,

Each of you, a bordered country,

Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.

The dinosaur, who left dried tokens

Of Their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

Your armed struggles for profit

Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly,

forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,

Come, clad in peace,

And I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I and the
Tree and the Rock were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
But seek no haven in my shadow,
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing
I will give you no hiding place down here.
The River sang and sings on.
You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness
Have lain too long
Facedown in ignorance,
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.
The Rock cries out to us today,
You may stand upon me;
But do not hide your face.
Across the wall of the world,
A River sings a beautiful song. It says,
Come, rest here by my side.

Each of you, descendant of some passedOn traveler, has been paid for.
You, who gave me my first name, you,
Pawnee, Apache, Seneca, you
Cherokee Nation, who rested with me, then
Forced on bloody feet,
Left me to the employment of
Other seekers, desperate for gain,
Starving for gold.
You, the Turk, the Arab, the Swede,
The German, the Eskimo, the Scot,
The Italian, the Hungarian, the Pole,
You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought

There is a true yearning to respond to

The singing River and the wise Rock.
So say the Asian, the Hispanic, the Jew
The African, the Native American, the Sioux
The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek,
The Irish, the Rabbi, the Priest, the Sheik,
The Gay, the Straight, the Preacher,
The privileged, the homeless, the Teacher.
They hear. They all hear
The speaking of the Tree.
They hear the first and last of every Tree
Speak to humankind today.
Come to me,
Here beside the River.
Plant yourself beside the River.
The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space
To place new steps of change
Here, on the pulse of this fine day
You may have the courage
To look up and out and upon me,
The Rock, the River, the Tree, you country.
No less to Midas than the mendicant.
No less to you now than the mastodon then.
Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister's eyes,
And into your brother's face,
Your country,
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Sold, stolen, arriving on a nightmare

Praying for a dream.
Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am that Tree planted by the River,
Which will not be moved.
I, the Rock, I, the River, I, the Tree
I am yours -- your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.

And say simply

Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

Lift up your eyes

Upon this day breaking for you.
Give birth again
To the dream.
Women, children, men,
Take it into the palms of your hands,
Mold it into the shape of your most
Private need. Sculpt it into
The image of your most public self.
Lift up your hearts
Each new hour holds new chances
For a new beginning.
Do not be wedded forever
To fear, yoked eternally
To brutishness.

Weekend Glory
by Maya Angelou
Some clichty folks
don't know the facts,
posin' and preenin'

Folks write about me.

They just can't see
how I work all week

and puttin' on acts,

stretchin' their backs.

at the factory.
Then get spruced up
and laugh and dance
And turn away from worry
with sassy glance.

They move into condos

up over the ranks,
pawn their souls
to the local banks.
Buying big cars
they can't afford,
ridin' around town
actin' bored.

They accuse me of livin'

from day to day,
but who are they kiddin'?
So are they.

If they want to learn how to live life right

they ought to study me on Saturday night.
My job at the plant
ain't the biggest bet,
but I pay my bills
and stay out of debt.
I get my hair done
for my own self's sake,
so I don't have to pick
and I don't have to rake.

My life ain't heaven

but it sure ain't hell.
I'm not on top
but I call it swell
if I'm able to work
and get paid right
and have the luck to be Black
on a Saturday night.

Take the church money out

and head cross town
to my friend girl's house
where we plan our round.
We meet our men and go to a joint
where the music is blue
and to the point.

Life Doesnt Frighten Me

by Maya Angelou
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all

That new classroom where

Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls

Bad dogs barking loud

Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild

With their hair in curls)

They don't frighten me at all.
Don't show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I'm afraid at all
It's only in my dreams.
I've got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn't frighten me at all

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn't frighten me at all.
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don't frighten me at all.

Formalism of Maya Angelou

In Maya Angelous poem, Caged Bird, she talks about a suffering caged bird and how it
wishes for freedom. Angelous poem uses a lot of imagery in her poem to personify the caged
bird. She also has a way of writing that is fluid, easy to read, and carries the poem along to the
next stanza naturally.

In the poem, this caged bird is angry, but a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can
seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his
throat to sing. We can see that in this section, Angelou is describing her bird as one that is full of
rage and one that has had its wings clipped and its feet tied. Throughout the poem, there is
more imagery of what this caged bird is like such as, the caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom, or but a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a
nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. With
these sections in the poem Angelou further explains how much her bird is suffering and how
much her bird wants to escape from this cage and fly freely in the sky, therefore the caged bird
sings of freedom since it cannot do anything else.
When reading the poem it's very fluid. There are many end-stopped lines in her poem.
With end-stopped lines there are opportunities for some major pauses, which can cause more of a
dramatic or serious effect. Especially in this poem because it is so emotional and so detailed in
its imagery that makes the reader think about the poem more in depth and take in the words
better. It also helps for the poem to sound fluid as the sentences glide through the stanzas.
Though the poem is written using the pronouns he/his/him, the caged bird that is talked
about in the poem is Maya Angelou.This poem seems to be a self-contained because of how
Angelou writes. She writes with such emotion and passion its hard not to think that the caged
bird is her, the poem sounds too personal for it not to be her. Maybe the meaning of the poem is,
even though you may be in a situation where you are not able to do much there is always a way
for you to surpass this and to fight back even if your wings are clipped and your feet are tied.

Cultural Poetic of Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou grew up in the south with her grandmother and younger brother, she gre
up during the Great Depression and saw what was happening during World War 2 as a young
adult and was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and worked closely with Martin Luther
King Jr. and Malcolm X. Her grandmother ran a general store during these times and saw the
need of people and even of her grandmother during these difficult times. When she was involved
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in the Civil Rights Movements she became very proud of her roots and of being a woman. When
she moved to California with her mother she really came to love the world of literature and
began writing. Her poems are very influenced by her personal experiences in these times. In her
involvement in the Civil Right's Movement we see poems such as the Caged Bird or Weekend
Glory. With her experience on seeing the need for food and money by many during the Great
Depression we can see poems such as Momma Welfare Roll. With her experience in seeing the
hate of war we can see poems such as On The Pulse Of The Morning, A Brave and Startling
Truth, Human Family, Million Man March, and Kin. There are many more writings she does on
topics such as aging in poems like Alone, Old Folks Laugh, On Aging, and When I Think About
Myself. She also writes poems about being a woman or being of color such as poems like
Phenomenal Woman and A Plagued Journey. There are many more poems she has on each of
these topics, but they would be too many list.
In her poems she talks about her personal experiences whether they are good or bad. In
the time, there was not many female poets and was just writing as a hobby, but when she met
novelist John Oliver Killens in 1959 he encouraged Angelou to move to New York City to pursue
her writing career and it was there when she wrote her first book, I Know Why The Caged Bird
Sings. FRom then on is when she became a well known poet and everything is history from
there. In an interview she did, she said she often looks at her past as a professional singer and
dancer, how it was like and how she was treated as woman, and how she was treated being of
color, and on how she wishes for human peace. The times and things Angelou experienced,
though painful and traumatic, she continues to write about them and with that she really is a
phenomenal woman.

Pastiche Poems
Look Away
by Danielle Lizarraga in the style of Maya Angelou
There are two scary things in this world,
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One is an angry woman,

And the other is a man with lustful eyes.
Some say these are the characteristics that make us human.
When a woman gets mad all hell breaks loose.
There is no stopping an angered woman
Her actions and words are unpredictable
She sets loose the raging beast inside her
Some say these traits are irresistible
The most dangerous thing in the world
is a man with lustful eyes
A man with lustful eyes has great power for danger.
Danger to the person being viewed.
A beautiful woman gets stares all the time
But there is a danger for the stare to become physical
A woman has to be careful of what she wears,
A woman has to be careful of where and at what time she walks,
A woman is blamed for what these men with lustful eyes do to her ,
A woman has no support by the government or society,
A woman is suppressed by men.
A man is not held responsible for his actions,
A man is not held to the social standards of a woman.
When a woman is angered by the actions of the man,
She is mocked and pushed to the side.
When a man has lustful eyes he is able to do what he wishes,
He is not forced to look away.
He is not forced to look away.

Learn Teach
by Danielle Lizarraga in the style of Maya Angelou
When will come the time,
When will come the time when we all see.
When we say what we see
From a young age we are taught to not say,
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We have been taught that we see doesnt matter

That isnt what we should be after
What we see does matter,
What we see has to be spoken to the world.
Having to accept unacceptable circumstances,
Having to play it off as though its okay,
Its not okay.
Speak to what you see and think,
Speak to the good and bad.
When you speak you teach.
When you hear you learn.
When will come the time,
When we all can learn and teach as one,
When will come the time.

I Love It, I Hate It

by Danielle Lizarraga in the style of Maya Angelou
I love the way the sea never stops kissing the shoreline
The way the stars are perfectly scattered on the night sky,
With each shining as bright as diamonds reflecting light in a mine.
I love the way the earth smells after the rain has fallen
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The way the house smells after baking a pie.

I hate the way they treat us.
The way they look at us as we pass by,
With their cynical and evil eyes
I hate the way they make the children cry
The way they beat and torment people of my kind
I love the way theres people who think of us as the same,
I hate the way theres people who put us to shame.

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This world deserves a beautifully written quote with words of wisdom. I am neither a good
writer nor have wisdom to share, but Maya Angelou does. Therefore, here are some words of
wisdom said beautifully by the ever flawless and the ever great, Maya Angelou. I've learned
that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never
forget how you made them feel. We, as humans, should work on being friends not foes
-Danielle Lizarraga

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