The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

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Summary: ...and still I rise
Review: A poem for every occasion, a poem for every feeling. Ms. Angelou's rich anthology has been with me through both difficult and uplifting moments in my personal past in the past five years. With her special insights on life, gathered through the years on her journeys from America to Africa and nearly everywhere in between, she brings a wealth of understanding to the simplicities of life, the struggles and beauty of being a woman, of pushing on through both adversity and triumph. Bless you Ms. Maya and thank you.. your work continually reminds me that still.... I rise.

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Summary: A Look Into The Heart Of Humanity
Review: Angelou has the capacity to convey our most inner and innate identity. Through her award-winning poetry, she uses words to draw out the feelings within our souls that are common to all people on this planet. By her literary magic, she urges the reader to let his differences dissolve and celebrate the human race as a whole. All of this is accopmlished with a candor, eloquence, and style which is all her own. Bravo, Professor Angelou.

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Summary: She's the best
Review: For all of us that love poetry... she is simply the best. Her insight and soulfulness inspire us all.

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Summary: The most uniquely crafted collection of poems I have read!
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: The most uniquely crafted collection of poems I have read!
Review: 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!

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Summary: Well...
Review: 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.

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Summary: What were you reading?
Review: I looked back at some of the customer reviews of Maya's collected verse volume, and was astonished to find a one star rating by someone who simply doesn't understand the complexity within the simplicity. I would imagine this person to be well educated, intellectual, and with much of their ego invested in their intelligence. They missed the mark-- make that the whole target with that misguided review. The words Miss Angelou chooses are for the versions of her truth, and she comes from the simplest place of all-- the heart. In order to express the complexities of the heart, one must return to the simplicity of the child, and the utmost economy of words. The poems of Maya Angelou are brilliant and that customer can go take a long walk on a short pier.

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Summary: The greatest book of poetry yet..
Review: I never really was interested in Maya Angelou until I read this book. This book of poetry is absolutely amazing. She writes about everything from high society to slaves in the cotton fields. Maya Angelou is certainly a great poet and she really touched my heart with her poetry. My favorite yet is "Phenomenal Woman". It's the best book I've read in ages!!

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Summary: Scandalously Awful
Review: 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.

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Summary: The best writer ever
Review: I unfortunately only know a few poems by Maya Angelou; plus her book I know why the caged bird sings. I think she is the best writer ever born in this world and 'Phenomenal Woman' is my all time favorite poem. Anyone who cares about the history of African-American women should read Maya. And every woman who is proud to be a woman should read her poetry. You will find a big part of yourself in it.