Maya Angelou

(4 April 1928 - 28 May 2014)

poet Maya Angelou
#3 on top 500 poets
Maya Angelou
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Maya Angelou Poems

  • Still I Rise  You may write me down in history With your ...
  • Caged Bird  The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and ...
  • Alone  Lying, thinking Last night How to find my soul a ...
  • Touched By An Angel  We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from ...
  • Woman Work  I've got the children to tend The clothes to ...
  • Men  When I was young, I used to Watch behind the ...
  • The Lesson  I keep on dying again. Veins collapse, opening ...
All poems of Maya Angelou »


(born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928) was 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.

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Quotations

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  • ''There is a kind of strength that is almost frightening in black women. It's as if a steel rod runs right through the head down to the feet.''
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author. interview broadcast, Nov. 21, 1973. "A Conversation with Maya Angelou," Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989).
    5956 person liked.
    		1308 person did not like.
  • The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black America...
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author, poet. interview, Nov. 21, 1973. "A Conversation with Maya Angelou," Conversations with Maya Angelou (1989).
    3426 person liked.
    		1153 person did not like.
  • Strictly speaking, one cannot legislate love, but what one can do is legislate fairness and justice. If legislation does not prohibit our living side by side, sooner or later your child will fall on t...
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928), African American author and performer. As quoted in I Dream a World, by Brian Lanker (1989).
    2979 person liked.
    		730 person did not like.
  • ...there is a difference between being convinced and being stubborn. I'm not certain what the difference is, but I do know that if you butt your head against a stone wall long enough, at some point yo...
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author and performer. As quoted in Reel Women, part 4, by Ally Acker (1991). Said in 1979, on giving up her attempt t...
    4019 person liked.
    		1000 person did not like.
  • ''...talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it.''
    Maya Angelou (b. 1928), U.S. author and performer. Black Women Writers at Work, ch. 1, by Claudia Tate (1983).
    2592 person liked.
    		466 person did not like.
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Comments about Maya Angelou

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  • tolstoink (9/22/2018 9:03:00 PM)

    Rated #3? This woman has no business being called a poet, let alone getting rated as a good one.

    6 person liked.
    		15 person did not like.
  • Gbole Goodluck (9/9/2018 3:50:00 AM)

    Every kid would want to be like her. I love this piece for it's well written and well designed.

    11 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • S M (9/7/2018 11:31:00 AM)

    what a nice poet isnt it. makes me exciting

    11 person liked.
    		1 person did not like.
  • juan lara (9/6/2018 3:30:00 PM)

    dope stuff maya keep it up

    7 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Vijay (8/13/2018 6:01:00 AM)

    Sex Karna h

    7 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Faby Wayne (8/8/2018 7:59:00 PM)

    You may write me down in history

    With your bitter, twisted lies,

    You may tread me in the very dirt

    But still, like dust, I'll rise.

    13 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • little nicky of Dulwich (7/19/2018 7:33:00 AM)

    WOW “STILL I RISE“ WOW POWERFUL AND DEEP

    6 person liked.
    		3 person did not like.
  • Danyell J. Bernier (7/17/2018 9:55:00 AM)

    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....................
    LOOK FOR REAL THINGS.......................www.precandy.com

    4 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
  • Danyell J. Bernier (7/17/2018 9:53:00 AM)

    I was so dead I wondered at no thing, -
    Not even that the angels slowly turned
    Their faces, speechless, as I hurried by.............................KNOW THE TRUTH BEHIND THESE LINES...............................www.precandy.com

    7 person liked.
    		0 person did not like.
  • zyreona (7/14/2018 1:28:00 PM)

    you where good history

    3 person liked.
    		2 person did not like.
Read all 342 comments »
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Best Poem of Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
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.

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? ...

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