Customer Reviews

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I only write this because I love this author more than any other and feel the need to defend this book from the critics who wrote the other reviews on it. I feel that poetry is what you make of it. If you can relate to what the poet is saying, what does it matter if they didn't follow specific guidelines that universities try to teach people who probably lack the free-form. Which is what I consider this book. Free-form poetry. So, yes,if you're only reading the book for an assignment or trying to analyze it into a specific form of poetry, you might be disappointed. However, if you are reading it in leisure or to connect with someone who can beautifully express some of our emotions and events of life, you won't be disappointed. That is if you can relate to it. As with all poetry, it will mean more to you if you can understand where the poet is coming from and connect that with your own emotions and personal experiences. From the time that I picked up this book over a decade ago, I have loved it! I hardly ever take the time to go back and re-read anything. I figure, once read, the most important of the knowledge is there and to move on, but I have read and re-read this book more times than I can remember! For me, it's full of emotion. I feel that in it's free-form, it's beautifully written. I could only ever hope to create a book as outstanding as this one, and I often compare my own free-form to hers.Once again, it's an outstanding book if you can relate to it.

Review of Maya Angelou's : The Complete Collection of Poems by Maya Angelou.

This is a "got-to-have" for anyone interested in the poetic genius of the famous Poet. The book gives you a chance to look back in her early writings and see how she moves you as she advanced in her skills. I rather enjoyed the book because it inspires me to write my own poetry. I have given very nice books of poetry as Christmas gifts to people I know she could awaken their desires to succeed. This particular reference has all the best of Maya and you can feel the poems affect you daily. I have given this book a 5 star rating because it's so enjoyable.

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, A New Dish, and At the Coffee Shop.

Dr. Angelou represents the very best of African genius and culture. Her words are our words, and her poems are like wings of freedom as we struggle in exile.
This collection has all of Dr. Angelou's poems in one volume, so it is a must-have reference for every African-IN-America family.
I recommend all of her works- her autobiographies, her cookbook, but her poems are her greatest gift. If you have never read them, prepare to be freed.

Maya Angelou has been one of my greatest inspirations since the seventh grade. I am now a rising senior in high school and I aspire to be a poet and writer. She is, by far, one of the most influential, strongest, and inspiring Black woman in the works of literature. Many of her poems I take reference to when doing an English assignment because she takes hold of many issues facing our people, especially women of even all colors. I hope to meet her some day but until that some day comes I will continue to be a big fan of hers and let her words echo through my mind and felt in my heart. I recommend everyone to read her work for it is truly inspirational.

This was a wonderful book, in which all the poems seem to tell a story, that nearly everyone has been through at one time in their life. Maya Angelou has written exactly what is on her mind, clearly, and simply creating a portrait of her past. Though many of the poems have to do with the experience of being black, I would recommend this book to anyone.

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.

Growing up as a Black American in the inner city I was never exposed to the talents of Black poets until I had the fortune of reading Maya Angelou's poem "Equality" in a multicultural literature course in college. I felt shame that I actually missed out on the opportunity to read such works when I was a young child. I always dreamed of a way out of the ghetto but dreams are what they are when one is trapped by reality. Maya Angelou's poems strike at the heart of the black consciousness. She raises the umbrella of truth in regards to the Black's struggle for voice and acknowledgement. She captivated my heart and soul and awakened my desire to dream again. All that is presumed lost is lost if one believes that dreams never come true. I have a new found faith in recognizing the special gift that the Black race gives to the culture of America. Even though history has presented a different picture we as Black folk understand and are driven with determined speed to undo the undone, we only ask to be recognized, or as Maya Angelou states, "Take the blinders from your vision take the padding from your ears, and confess you've heard me crying, and admit you've seen my tears" (233). God Bless!

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 was so happy to find this collection of poetry and writings in one book by Maya Angelou. I find her work so uplifting and her writings cut to the core of humanity and show life as it is. It is real and not all glossed over and it goes right to your heart. Beautiful work...a pleasure to own. A work that I will read again and again.