Top 12 Famous Maya Angelou Poems And Quotes You Can Read Online

Maya Angelou was a famous American writer and poet. She was born in 1928 and lived until 2014.

Angelou wrote many books and poems that people all over the world love. 

Her writing often talks about being strong, having hope, and being proud of who you are.

She wrote about her life experiences and the struggles of African Americans. 

Angelou's poems are special because they use simple words to share big ideas.

These poems help people feel inspired and teach important lessons about life. 

According to Goodreads, over 75% of Maya Angelou’s quotes and poems featured online.

Reading Maya Angelou's poems and quotes is a great way to learn about her thoughts and feelings.

So, let’s explore and read her poems, quotes together.

People often turn to Angelou's words when trying to express complex ideas or emotions.

"Me trying to sound deep and profound…"

"Using Maya Angelou quotes because my own thoughts are overrated."

Short poems by Maya Angelou 

Short poems by Maya Angelou capture powerful emotions and thoughts in just a few lines. Her poems often touch on themes of strength, hope, and resilience. They are easy to read but deeply meaningful.

1. 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.

Summary

In this poem, Maya Angelou talks about how people need each other to survive. She says even rich people with lots of money and doctors can't make it alone. The poem reminds us that everyone needs help and support from others.

2. Caged bird

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wing

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 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.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and 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.

Summary

Maya Angelou's poem compares a free bird to a caged bird. The free bird flies happily in the sky, while the caged bird is stuck and sad but still sings about freedom. The poem shows the strong desire for freedom even when trapped.

Maya Angelou poem on mother

She writes poems about different parts of life, including family. Her poems about mothers are especially beautiful and show deep love and respect. They celebrate the important role mothers play and the special bond between them and their children.

3. Mother: A Cradle to hold me

“It is true

I was created in you.

It is also true

That you were created for me.

I owned your voice.

It was shaped and tuned to soothe me.

Your arms were molded

Into a cradle to hold me, to rock me.

The scent of your body was the air

Perfumed for me to breathe.Mother,

During those early, dearest days

I did not dream that you had

A large life which included me,

For I had a life

Which was only you.

Time passed steadily and drew us apart.

I was unwilling.

I feared if I let you go

You would leave me eternally.

You smiled at my fears, saying

I could not stay in your lap forever.

That one day you would have to stand

And where would I be?

You smiled again.

I did not.

Without warning you left me,

But you returned immediately.

You left again and returned,

I admit, quickly,

But relief did not rest with me easily.

You left again, but again returned.

You left again, but again returned.

Each time you reentered my world

You brought assurance.

Slowly I gained confidence.

You thought you know me,

But I did know you,

You thought you were watching me,

But I did hold you securely in my sight,

Recording every moment,

Memorizing your smiles, tracing your frowns.

In your absence

I rehearsed you,

The way you had of singing

On a breeze,

While a sob lay

At the root of your song.

The way you posed your head

So that the light could caress your face

When you put your fingers on my hand

And your hand on my arm,

I was blessed with a sense of health,

Of strength and very good fortune.

You were always

the heart of happiness to me,

Bringing nougats of glee,

Sweets of open laughter.

I loved you even during the years

When you knew nothing

And I knew everything, I loved you still.

Condescendingly of course,

From my high perch

Of teenage wisdom.

I spoke sharply of you, often

Because you were slow to understand.

I grew older and

Was stunned to find

How much knowledge you had gleaned.

And so quickly.

Mother, I have learned enough now

To know I have learned nearly nothing.

On this day

When mothers are being honored,

Let me thank you

That my selfishness, ignorance, and mockery

Did not bring you to

Discard me like a broken doll

Which had lost its favor.

I thank you that

You still find something in me

To cherish, to admire and to love.

I thank you, Mother.

I love you.”

Summary

This poem is about a person talking to their mom. They thank her for always loving and caring for them, even when they were not always nice. The person realizes how much they still need their mom and how much they love her.

4. Woman work

I've got the children to tend

The clothes to mend

The floor to mop

The food to shop

Then the chicken to fry

The baby to dry

I got company to feed

The garden to weed

I've got shirts to press

The tots to dress

The cane to be cut

I gotta clean up this hut

Then see about the sick

And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine

Rain on me, rain

Fall softly, dewdrops

And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here

With your fiercest wind

Let me float across the sky

'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes

Cover me with white

Cold icy kisses and

Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky

Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone

Star shine, moon glow

You're all that I can call my own.

Summary 

This poem is about a person who has many chores and responsibilities, like taking care of kids, cooking, and cleaning. They wish for nature to help them rest and find peace. The sun, rain, snow, and sky are their only comfort.

Poem about spirituality by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's poems about spirituality explore deep feelings and connections with something greater than ourselves. Her words often reflect a sense of wonder, faith, and inner strength, helping readers feel more connected to the world around them.

5. Preacher, don’t send me

Preacher, don't send me

when I die

to some big ghetto

in the sky

where rats eat cats

of the leopard type

and Sunday brunch

is grits and tripe.

I've known those rats

I've seen them kill

and grits I've had

would make a hill,

or maybe a mountain,

so what I need

from you on Sunday

is a different creed.

Preacher, please don't

promise me

streets of gold

and milk for free.

I stopped all milk

at four years old

and once I'm dead

I won't need gold.

I'd call a place

pure paradise

where families are loyal

and strangers are nice,

where the music is jazz

and the season is fall.

Promise me that

or nothing at all.

Summary 

In this poem, the speaker asks the preacher not to promise a fancy afterlife. Instead, they want a place with friendly people and good music, not things like gold or free milk.

6. A Brave and startling truth

We, this people, on a small and lonely planet

Traveling through casual space

Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns

To a destination where all signs tell us

It is possible and imperative that we learn

A brave and startling truth

And when we come to it

To the day of peacemaking

When we release our fingers

From fists of hostility

And allow the pure air to cool our palms

When we come to it

When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate

And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean

When battlefields and coliseum

No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters

Up with the bruised and bloody grass

To lie in identical plots in foreign soil

When the rapacious storming of the churches

The screaming racket in the temples have ceased

When the pennants are waving gaily

When the banners of the world tremble

Stoutly in the good, clean breeze

When we come to it

When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders

And children dress their dolls in flags of truce

When land mines of death have been removed

And the aged can walk into evenings of peace

When religious ritual is not perfumed

By the incense of burning flesh

And childhood dreams are not kicked awake

By nightmares of abuse

When we come to it

Then we will confess that not the Pyramids

With their stones set in mysterious perfection

Nor the Gardens of Babylon

Hanging as eternal beauty

In our collective memory

Not the Grand Canyon

Kindled into delicious color

By Western sunsets

Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe

Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji

Stretching to the Rising Sun

Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor,

Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores

These are not the only wonders of the world

When we come to it

We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe

Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger

Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace

We, this people on this mote of matter

In whose mouths abide cankerous words

Which challenge our very existence

Yet out of those same mouths

Come songs of such exquisite sweetness

That the heart falters in its labor

And the body is quieted into awe

We, this people, on this small and drifting planet

Whose hands can strike with such abandon

That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living

Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness

That the haughty neck is happy to bow

And the proud back is glad to bend

Out of such chaos, of such contradiction

We learn that we are neither devils nor divines

When we come to it

We, this people, on this wayward, floating body

Created on this earth, of this earth

Have the power to fashion for this earth

A climate where every man and every woman

Can live freely without sanctimonious piety

Without crippling fear

When we come to it

We must confess that we are the possible

We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world

That is when, and only when

We come to it.

Summary 

This poem by Maya Angelou talks about how people on Earth need to learn to live in peace. It describes a future where we stop fighting, care for each other, and realize that we are the true wonders of the world. When we come together in peace, we can create a better world for everyone.

Maya Angelou poems about love 

Her love poems are heartfelt and inspiring. They explore the different ways love can touch our lives and help us grow. Her words show the beauty of love and its power to bring hope and joy.

7. Touched by an angel

We, unaccustomed to courage

exiles from delight

live coiled in shells of loneliness

until love leaves its high holy temple

and comes into our sight

to liberate us into life.

Love arrives

and in its train come ecstasies

old memories of pleasure

ancient histories of pain.

Yet if we are bold,

love strikes away the chains of fear

from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity

In the flush of love's light

we dare be brave

And suddenly we see

that love costs all we are

and will ever be.

Yet it is only love

which sets us free.

Summary

This poem by Maya Angelou tells us that love helps us be brave and break free from fear and loneliness. Love brings happiness and memories, even though it can be hard. In the end, love makes us truly free.

8. When you come

When you come to me, unbidden,

Beckoning me

To long-ago rooms,

Where memories lie.

Offering me, as to a child, an attic,

Gatherings of days too few.

Baubles of stolen kisses.

Trinkets of borrowed loves.

Trunks of secret words,

I CRY.

Summary

This poem talks about someone bringing back old memories, like special moments and secret words from the past. These memories make the person feel very emotional and cry.

Poems about life Maya Angelou 

She writes different types of poetry. However, her poems about life explore the highs and lows of living, celebrating strength, hope, and the human spirit. Through her words, she helps us understand and appreciate the journey of life.

9. When great trees fall

When great trees fall,


rocks on distant hills shudder,


lions hunker down


in tall grasses,


and even elephants


lumber after safety.



When great trees fall


in forests,


small things recoil into silence,


their senses


eroded beyond fear.



When great souls die,


the air around us becomes


light, rare, sterile.


We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly,


see with


a hurtful clarity.


Our memory, suddenly sharpened,


examines,


gnaws on kind words


unsaid,


promised walks


never taken.


Great souls die and


our reality, bound to


them, takes leave of us.


Our souls,


dependent upon their


nurture,


now shrink, wizened.


Our minds, formed


and informed by their


radiance,
fall away.


We are not so much maddened


as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of

dark, cold


caves.



And when great souls die,


after a period peace blooms,


slowly and always


irregularly. Spaces fill


with a kind of


soothing electric vibration.


Our senses, restored, never


to be the same, whisper to us.


They existed. They existed.


We can be. Be and be


better. For they existed.

Summary

When important people die, everything around them feels different. We remember things we didn't do or say. Over time, we find peace and remember how special they were, and it makes us want to be better because they were here.

10. The lesson

I keep on dying again.

Veins collapse, opening like the

Small fists of sleeping

Children.

Memory of old tombs,

Rotting flesh and worms do

Not convince me against

The challenge. The years

And cold defeat live deep in

Lines along my face.

They dull my eyes, yet

I keep on dying,

Because I love to live.

Summary

In this poem, Maya Angelou talks about facing hard times and feeling sad, but she keeps going because she loves life. Even when things are tough, she stays strong and never gives up.

Maya Angelou poems on nature 

Maya Angelou often wrote about nature in her poems, using the beauty of the natural world to express deep feelings and ideas. Her poems about nature celebrate the power and wonder of the world around us, reflecting her love for the earth and its creatures.

11. Awakening in New York

Curtains forcing their will

against the wind,

children sleep,

exchanging dreams with

seraphim. The city

drags itself awake on

subway straps; and

I, an alarm, awake as a

rumor of war,

lie stretching into dawn,

unasked and unheeded.

Summary

In this poem, Maya Angelou describes a quiet scene where curtains struggle against the wind while children sleep peacefully. The city starts its day as people wake up and go about their routines, but the poet feels alone and unnoticed, like an early warning sign of trouble.

12. Human family

I note the obvious differences

in the human family.

Some of us are serious,

some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived

as true profundity,

and others claim they really live

the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones

can confuse, bemuse, delight,

brown and pink and beige and purple,

tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas

and stopped in every land,

I've seen the wonders of the world

not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women

called Jane and Mary Jane,

but I've not seen any two

who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different

although their features jibe,

and lovers think quite different thoughts

while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,

we weep on England's moors,

and laugh and moan in Guinea,

and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,

are born and die in Maine.

In minor ways we differ,

in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences

between each sort and type,

but we are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,

than we are unalike.

Summary 

Maya Angelou's poem talks about how people are different in many ways, like their looks, where they live, and what they believe. But even with all these differences, we are actually very similar. We all have feelings and experiences that connect us, no matter where we come from or who we are.

However, a poem creator helps you to make your own poems like Maya Angelou’s poems. You can choose length and creativity according to you and this tool will create excellent poems for you.

Maya Angelou quotes 

Maya Angelou was a remarkable writer and speaker known for her powerful and inspiring words. Her quotes often focus on themes like courage, resilience, and hope. 

According to Research gate, her most famous quotes have been cited in more than 200 academic papers and articles, showcasing their influence on literature and social thought.

Maya Angelou's words have become so popular that they often appear in everyday conversations, sometimes in unexpected ways.

"When you share a Maya Angelou quote at a party…"

"And everyone thinks you're a philosopher now."

Here are some of her most memorable quotes that continue to inspire people around the world. 

1. Quotes about love

1.1. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”

1.2. “Love costs all we are and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.”

2. Life quotes 

2.1. “The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”

2.2. “Life is going to give you just what you put in it. Put your whole heart in everything you do, and pray, then you can wait.”

3. Success quotes

3.1. “No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” 

3.2. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

4. Quotes about mothers

4.1. “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.”

4.2. “I am a woman phenomenally, a phenomenal woman that is your grandmother, that is your mother, that is your sister, that is you and that is me.”

5. Education quotes 

5.1. “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”

5.2. “Education helps one case cease being intimidated by strange situations.”

6. Quotes about change

6.1. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

6.2. “Make every effort to change things you do not like. If you cannot make a change, change the way you have been thinking. You might find a new solution.”

7. Quotes about family

7.1. “The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society. A massive, powerful society.”

7.2. “My pride had been starched by a family who assumed unlimited authority in its own affairs.”

Maya Angelou’s books 

Some famous books of her are:

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) 
2. Gather Together in My Name (1974) 
3. Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976) 
4. The Heart of a Woman (1981) 
5. And Still I Rise (1986)
6. All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) 
7. The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994) 
8. A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002)

Conclusion

Maya Angelou was a great writer who shared important ideas through her poems and quotes. Her words talk about love, life, and being strong. Her poems use simple words but have deep meanings that can make you think and feel. 

Reading Maya Angelou's work can inspire you and teach you valuable lessons about life. They might help you see the world in a new way. Why not pick one of her poems to read today and see how it makes you feel?

FAQ's

1. What themes are common in Maya Angelou's poetry?

Maya Angelou's poetry often explores themes of identity, resilience, social justice, and the human spirit. Her work frequently addresses issues of race, gender, and personal empowerment.

2. What is Maya Angelou's most famous poem?

One of her most famous poems is *Still I Rise*. It is celebrated for its themes of strength, resilience, and self-empowerment.

3. Did Maya Angelou receive any awards for her work?

Yes, Maya Angelou received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts, and several NAACP Image Awards.

4. Did Maya Angelou have any other roles besides being a poet?

Yes, Maya Angelou was also an actress, director, and producer. She worked on several films and television shows and was an advocate for civil rights and social justice throughout her life.

5. When did Maya Angelou pass away?

Maya Angelou passed away on May 28, 2014.

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