Top 12 Famous Maya Angelou Poems And Quotes You Can Read Online
Discover 12+ famous Maya Angelou poems and quotes online. Angelou's powerful words on love, freedom, and life continue to inspire and uplift.
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 poems. 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, an online 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:
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
- Gather Together in My Name (1974)
- Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976)
- The Heart of a Woman (1981)
- And Still I Rise (1986)
- All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986)
- The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994)
- 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.
