Customer Reviews

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was given this book as a Christmas present and have gone back to it often. My favorite poem is "Life Doesn't Frighten Me" - I find myself going back to this one time and again. Maya Angelou proves herself as one of the outstanding comtemporary poets today by offering poetry that anyone, regardless of background, color, or creed, can find inspire in. Every woman should have a copy of this book.

From the author of The Difference Now.

I breezed through this one, and I have to say her autobiographies are far superior to her poems. I didn't even have the heart to understand most of them. The style is not exactly what I can call "delicious". I'm just not a fan of Maya when it comes to poetry. BUT I have to say I enjoyed the poems in "I Shall not be Moved". They just contained a different flavor in them. One can easily tell that she had grown when she wrote these ones. (I'm assuming it's her latest of all the other poetry books). Or maybe she just put more effort into it, or perhaps just decided to use a different style. I liked "On the Pulse of Morning" as well.

Maya Angelou's words absolutely captivate me throughout the series. Each poem opens a new door but reliterate the themes of oppression, struggle, freedom, and so much more. Two particular favorite short poems are The Lesson and Contemporary Announcement.
Maya Angelou's continuous effort to live life through music, through dance, through writing reflects in The Lesson. Even though the poem seems rather morbid through the description of "rotting flesh and worms" "old tombs", "veins collapse", in the end it emphasizes the importance of living life and enjoying life until the last breath. So the lesson to be learned from "The Lesson" is to love life and live life.
Maya Angelou's past reflects in most of her poems. In "Contemporary Announcement", she portrayed the harshness of living from day to day in the ghettos. The protagonist lives from day to day, from paycheck to paycheck, in its sadness and happiness. When the character has money, the family join together in happiness with "cook the cow" and "ring the big bells". And when there is no money, the family must live in darkness and in fear, that they must "hold your breath" and "take my heart in your hand." Overall, the poem portrays the harshness of the working class which experienced by 80% of Americans.

Maya Angelou is a media creation. Her fame is fed by her image rather than her writing. If you'd like to read a GOOD African American female poet check out Rita Dove or Lucile Clifton or Gwendolyn Brooks.

Maya Angelou is both a classic and modern poet simultaneously. The Collected Poems of Maya Angelou satiate the soul with joy and strength, and reflect the wisdom of one for whom neither were givens. Poetry for the "real" world, in all its positive, neutral and negative aspects. Thanks Maya, for having the courage to be real.

This poem gives you the strength to deal with lifes situations when being talked down and trampled on by others.I't gives you hope and the will to rise above all situations that we may go through in life.I rise!

Cassandra Dillon
Author of "Reality Poems".

Working in a library gives me a chance to read some of my favorite authors. Maya Angelou is one of my favorites and
she truly is PHENOMENAL!! I like this particular book because
it contains all of her poems including "Phenomenal Women." I live and work in a suburb of Chicago Illinois so I have had a
chance to hear her read this particular poem on Oprah Winfrey's
program. I would urge anyone to buy a copy of this book and enjoy the writing of a very wonderful and phenomenal woman,Dr.Maya Angelou.If you like honest down to earth poetry then The Complete
Collected Poems of Maya Angelou is just the book you're looking
for.

I'll admit that I didn't understand every poem in the book, but I still loved it. A lot of her poems display her ruthless determination and a type of self-confidence that I've never seen before. My favorite poems in this book were "Still I Rise" and Phenomenal Woman". Both inspired me to basically believe in myself, never give up, and be comfortable with who I am. This might sound kind of cliche, but I can't really explain it without ruining it by telling you what the poems are about. Other poems in this book that I enjoyed were "In a Time", "A Type of Love Some Say", and MANY others. They all tell of real situations in a very raw way. Nothing is sugar coated and this is something that kept me interested. Overall the book was great because even if I didn't understand every poem that was in it, I still came away from it with a lot.

siempre he creido que los poemas deben ser rimados y por eso no me gustan los versos blancos, los desatinos poeticos de la libre versificacion. Maya Angelou presenta rima y verso, sus poemas son cantables, recitables, tienen gracia y ritmo y cierto estilo que parece ser caracteristico de los afroamericanos, sus poemas me encantaron todos. y por favor otra cosa, a ella hay que leerla en su idioma. la poesia se pierde en las traducciones, sino traten de leer a neruda en ingles para que vean que desastre.. LUIS MENDEZ luismendez@codetel.net.do

I seem to be the odd man out here, but I've always expected poetry to have a certain grace, consistency, music, class. At her best, Maya Angelou is cute; at her worst, she is insipid. Her goo-goo da-da earth mother routine becomes seriously tiring after a few poems -- and it is a little preposterous to find somebody still playing the race card in the year 2000! Please, poetry-lovers, look into the work of Tennyson and Philip Larkin. Or Shakespeare. Or even Langston Hughes, if you must have Righteous Anger with your poetry.