Alone by Maya Angelou

Alone

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.

Maya Angelou

Commentary:
I first took a look at the title of the poem. From this, the poem seems to talk about being alone or having no one by your side. I think this poem is going to be interesting because the title seems intriguing.
The author, Maya Angelou used a variety of figurative language to bring across her point.
First of all, Maya Angelou used repetition. All throughout her poem, she keeps repeating the word "nobody." She says," nobody, but, nobody can make it out here alone." She repeats this at the end of every stanza. She does this in order to put a stress on this phrase. This stays in the reader's mind and helps to bring across the main point.
Next, Maya Angelou used a metaphor in the third stanza of the poem. Maya Angelou says, "Their wives run round like banshees." To be honest, when I read the title I did not know what the word meant, not even a clue. Using the phrases surrounding the stanza, it had to be something bad. Since money can not buy happiness, their wives were probably sad just like their children were singing the blues. So this is probably what the word meant. 

Alone by Maya Angelou YouTube Video