Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Phenomenal Woman

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,
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


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

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
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

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.

Maya Angelou

Commentary:
From reading some of Maya Angelou's poems, she is very feminist. She wrote "Woman Work" and "Still I Rise" and many others that show a feminist point of view. Taking this in consideration, I knew that this poem was going to elevate the women and obviously talk good about them.
It was a pleasure reading this poem. It gave an important message about the pride of women and how they overcome discrimination and still feel phenomenal.
Maya Angelou used repetition in her poem to stress all the important lines to her. She says, " Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me," at the end of almost every stanza. This expressed how this phrase is very important in the poem. This phrase turned out to become a famous quote by Maya Angelou. By using repetition, the reader stayed with these lines after having read the poem.



Listen: Dr. Maya Angelou recites her poem,
"Phenomenal Woman"

A Friend by Katherine Philips

A Friend

Love, nature's plot, this great
creation's soul,
   The being and the harmony of
things.
Doth still preserve and propagate the                  

whole,
   From whence man's happiness and
safety springs:
The earliest, whitest, blessed'st times
did draw
From her alone their universal law.

Friendship's an abstract of this noble
flame,
   'Tis love refined and purged from
all its dross,
The next to angels' love, if not the
same,
   As strong in passion is, though not
so gross:
It antedates a glad eternity,
And is an heaven in epitome.


Essential honour must be in a friend,
   Not such as every breath fans to
and fro;
But born within, is its own judge and
end,
   And dares not sin though sure that
none should know.
Where friendship's spoke, honesty's
understood;
For none can be a friend that is not
good.


Thick waters show no images of
things;
   Friends are each other's mirrors,
and should be
Clearer than crystal or the mountain
springs,
   And free from clouds, design, or
flattery.
For vulgar souls no part of friendship
share;
Poets and friends are born to what
they are.




Commentary:

The title of the poem captivated my attention and I decided to read the poem. "Friends" is the title of the poem and I wanted to know what the author, Katherine Philips had to express about friends. The things she said in her poem are so true. Everyone thinks this, but Katherine put it perfectly together in a poem.
She used a variety of figurative language to transmit her point about friends.
First of all, Katherine Philips used hyperbole. The use of hyperboles give exaggeration to her poem. She says, "clearer than crystal." This phrase, which is in stanza four, is saying that friends should be completely honest to each other. She does not mean that friends shoulld literally be clearer than crystal. When someone is " crystal-clear," they are direct and truthful about what they have to say. The poem would be boring if she said," friends must be truthful and honest to each other." So, with the use of a hyperbole, she also adds spice to her poem.
After reading the poem, I realized the true meaning of friendship. Katherine Philips does an excellent job at explaining this to the audience. The poem is not sad or anything, but it provokes feelings in you after reading it. Katherine Philips wants us to be good friends. She says that no one is a bad friend. Each person hangs out with people that are their mirrors. This means that people that are alike and have the same interests tend to become friends.
I am willing to be a better friend and listen to my friends.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
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.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the 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
an 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.

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

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.

Maya Angelou



Commentary:
Just when I had read the title, I knew this poem was one of Maya Angelou's most famous poems. I recognized the poem right away.
In general, this poem is about 2 birds, one free and the other is caged. Maya Angelou compares these 2 birds and their different situations.
Maya Angelou used figurative language to come across her audience and to get to her main point.
First of all, Maya Angelou used repetition. She repeats various phrases. First, she repeats the phrase, " his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing."
In the poem, this phrase was repeated twice. She choose to repeat this phrase because she thought it was important for the reader to remember it long after finishing reading the poem. This phrase means that the bird has her wings clipped and the birds feet are tied. So the only thing she can do is sing. It is like saying that you do not have any food in your refrigerator and the only thing left is an apple, so you eat it for dinner. Back to the phrase, the bird songs because it is the only thing that it is free to do.
Another phrase that Maya Angelou repeated was, " 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. Just like the other phrase that was repeated, Maya Angelou repeats this phrase twice. I believe that Maya Angelou intended this phrase to serve the same purpose as the first. She repeated this phrase to emphasis its importance. This is a well known quote and it is widely known. In context, this phrase that the enslaved bird sings with fright of the things that it has not experienced. This bird might sing about flying to beautiful sceneries and discovering new places outside of the cage, where it always is. So, when the bird sings of freedom, it might sing of these things.
After reading the poem, I did research on this poem and it said that the Maya Angelou intended for the caged bird to be an enslaved African american and for the free bird to be a whote person. When I read this information, the poem seemed to be perfect. It described their situation and it evoked self-conscience about this topic.




 Poem Analysis on "I know why the caged bird sings"

 

Poem by Maya Angelou "I know why the caged bird sings"

 

To One Persuading A Lady To Marriage by Katherine Philips

To One Persuading A Lady To Marriage

Forbear, bold youth; all 's heaven here,
And what you do aver
To others courtship may appear,
'Tis sacrilege to her.
She is a public deity;
And were 't not very odd
She should dispose herself to be
A petty household god?

First make the sun in private shine
And bid the world adieu,
That so he may his beams confine
In compliment to you:
But if of that you do despair,
Think how you did amiss
To strive to fix her beams which are
More bright and large than his.

Katherine Philips

 Commentary:

 After reading the title, it was clear to me what the poem was going to be about. Katherine Philips might expand her ideas on the proper way to propose to a lady, as the poet lived around the 17th century.
Katherine used figurative language to reach her audience and to transmit her main point, which happens to also be the title of the poem.
Katherine Philips used a rhetorical question in her first stanza of the poem. She says, "She should dispose herself to be a petty household god?" In regular English, Katherine Philips is asking if women should devote their time to just being a housewife. With this question, she does not expect an answer from the reader. She wants the reader to take a moment and think about the question asked. This helps to send her message out to her audience. When saying this in her poem, she expresses that women are not in this world just to cook, clean, and take care of the house. They can also be intelligent human beings. With this, she also proves that she is a strong feminist writer.
Overall, I thought that the poem was good and that it contained viral information that every man should take in consideration. She defends women by saying that they are not just housewives, but part of society. In the second stanza, Katherine Philips goes step by step in what men should do. She starts off by saying " first"  and continues to the other points. The list that she gives is easy to flow and easy to understand. 

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

Epitaph on her Son H. P. by Katherine Philips

Epitaph on her Son H. P.

WHat on Earth deserves our trust ?                                
Youth and Beauty both are dust.                
Long we gathering are with pain,
What one moment calls again.
Seven years childless, marriage past,
A Son, a son is born at last :
So exactly lim'd and fair.
Full of good Spirits, Meen, and Air,
As a long life promised,
Yet, in less than six weeks dead.
Too promising, too great a mind
In so small room to be confin'd :

Therefore, as fit in Heav'n to dwell,                      
He quickly broke the Prison shell.
So the subtle Alchimist,
Can't with Hermes Seal resist
The powerful spirit's subtler flight,
But t'will bid him long good night.
And so the Sun if it arise
Half so glorious as his Eyes,
Like this Infant, takes a shrowd,
Buried in a morning Cloud.

Katherine Philips

Commentary:
When I first read the title of the poem, I did not know what epitaph was. Then I looked the word up in the dictionary to get a clue of what the poem was going to be about. According to the Merriam-Webster, epitaph is something said in memory of a dead person. From this definition, I knew what the poem was going to be about.
After reading the poem, I noticed that the author used figurative language to come across her audience to express epitaph to her dead son.
First of all, Katherine Philips used a rhetorical question. She says, "What on Earth deserves our trust?" She does not expect a direct response from her audience. She wants to cause an impact on her audience and to cause the readers to think about the question for a minute.
Next, she used a simile to get her point across. She says, " Youth and beauty both are dust." She is saying that youth and beauty are something that they are not and this makes this phrase a simile. What she means by this phrase is that youth and beauty are nothing. At the end of the day, these things are worth nothing. What remains is intelligence. Dust goes with the wind just like youth and beauty.
This poem has a very melancholy tone. The speaker is talking about her son, which died at only six weeks old. This poem is dedicated to the loss of her son.
This poem made me realize that life is not a promise or an automatic given. 

Men by Maya Angelou

Men

When I was young, I used to
Watch behind the curtains
As men walked up and down the street. Wino men, old men.
Young men sharp as mustard.
See them. Men are always
Going somewhere.
They knew I was there. Fifteen
Years old and starving for them.
Under my window, they would pauses,
Their shoulders high like the
Breasts of a young girl,                                        Jacket tails slapping over
Those behinds,
Men.

One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little

More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a.             Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
Your mind pops, exploding fiercely, briefly,
Like the head of a kitchen match. Shattered.
It is your juice
That runs down their legs. Staining their shoes.
When the earth rights itself again,
And taste tries to return to the tongue,
Your body has slammed shut. Forever.
No keys exist.

Then the window draws full upon
Your mind. There, just beyond
The sway of curtains, men walk.
Knowing something.
Going someplace.
But this time, I will simply
Stand and watch.

Maybe.

Maya Angelou

Commentary:
So, first I analyzed from just the title what the poem was going to be about. "Men" sounds just like it is. I just thought it was going to be about a woman or the speaker saying all the flaws that men have.
I read the poem in its entirety. I realized my prediction was wrong. The poem is actually about the speaker's lust or desire for men. She looks at them from a window. She " starves" for men. That starveness that she first felt towards men takes a pause as she realize that men do not look into her what she looks into them. She then restarts that lust for men as she still has hope to find men looking for the same thing she is.
In order to reach her main point, she uses figurative language in her poem.
First of all, Maya Angelou uses metaphor. An example of this is, "Wino men, old men. Young men sharp as mustard." Mustard, as everyone has tasted it knows, has a sharp taste. In this metaphor, I think Maya Angelou is comparing the taste of mustard to the appearance of the men that walk past the speaker's window. The appearance of the men may be elegant and showing off.
Another example of a metaphor that she used was when she said," Their shoulders high like the breasts of a young girl." Here she is comparing the breasts of young girls to the shoulders of men. They have nothing in common, but Maya Angelou says both are high. The shoulders of the men may be high because they are proud and self-absorbed and think they are the best thing in the world. The breasts of young girls are high because that is the nature of things.
Another metaphor she used was when she said, " one day they hold you in the palms of their hands, gentle, as if you were the last raw egg in the world." Here Maya Angelou is comparing the way that the men held the speaker to the way people hold an egg due to their delicateness. She is describing how the men touched her in her first sexual experience.

Men by Maya Angelou YouTube video