With themes of human rights, peace and social justice, A Brave and Startling Truth, was written for 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995 and read by Maya Angelou at the commemoration.Д«ut a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams It is only then that we will be able to achieve our true potential and realize that true wonders of this world are actually we. However, she believes true achievement would be to give up hostilities and embrace peace. In this poem, Angelou talks about the history of the human race which has tried to make civilization great through accomplishments like building marvelous monuments and gathering knowledge. We, this people, on this wayward, floating bodyДЄ climate where every man and every womanД¬an live freely without sanctimonious piety One of AngelouвЂ™s most famous poems, Alone stresses on the basic need of humans to have people around them and the dangers of the world moving away from valuing the importance of others in our lives. She then talks about the rich with вЂњtheir hearts of stoneвЂќ and about the difficult times which are approaching. In this poem, the narrator makes a discovery while lying late at night that no one вЂњ can make it out here aloneвЂќ. In the first stanza, Angelou compares Africa to a beautiful woman in the second she talks about the white invaders who вЂњtook her young daughtersвЂќ, вЂњsold her strong sonsвЂќ and вЂњbled her with gunsвЂќ and in the last she ends with renewed hope as Africa is вЂњrisingвЂќ and вЂњstridingвЂќ again. In this poem, Angelou talks about the history of the continent of Africa with its resources plundered by European imperialists and its people taken as slaves. Touched by An Angel is one of AngelouвЂ™s most popular poems on the theme of love. Angelou uses words and phrases related to birth and children like вЂњcoiled in shellsвЂќ and вЂњweanedвЂќ to suggest that it is the touch of love which makes a person come of age and which helps her do away with вЂњancient histories of painвЂќ, вЂњchains of fearвЂќ and вЂњshells of lonelinessвЂќ.

In this poem, the narrator tells us, in numerous ways, the importance in our lives of love, without which we are in вЂњexiles from delightвЂќ. When I Think About Myself is perhaps the most famous poem from AngelouвЂ™s first poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water вЂfore I Diiie, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

The narrator has lived for more than sixty years in вЂњthese folksвЂ™ worldвЂќ and now she chooses to laugh at her painful past, albeit the laughter chokes, aches and makes her cry. The central theme of the poem is self-pride that prevents one from losing oneвЂ™s will in spite of experiences involving degradation. In this poem, Angelou presents the perspective of an aging maid to make a statement about blacks surviving in a world dominated by whites. The tales they tell, sound just like lying, In Woman Work, Angelou conveys masterfully a housewifeвЂ™s want for rest from her tiring and mundane work, making it one of her most popular and relatable poems on women. The remaining paragraphs are more relaxed as the woman takes solace in nature and the poem ends with the woman expressing that elements of nature are вЂњall that I can call my ownвЂќ. In the first stanza, she lists, without complaining, the various household chores she has to complete in a single day. In this poem, the narrator is a stay-at-home mother who is engaged in a long day of tiring work.

Maya angelou poems