'To a man' is written by Maya Angelou, whose first novel was an
autobiography of her varied life, (activist, singer, waitress, dancer etc.)
called 'I know why the caged bird sings'. She has written two collections
of prose, 'Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now' and 'Even the stars
look lonesome'. Angelou has written several famous poems, including
'Still I rise' and 'On the pulse of the morning' for the inaugeration of
President Clinton. Maya Angelou now has a lifetime appointment as
Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University of North
Carolina.
The poem is about the man that Maya Angelou loves, and she uses
a variety of metaphors and images to describe him to the reader. Maya
Angelou has a very decisive style of writing and uses lots of modal verbs
such as 'is' to convey her message to the reader. She writes poems to
entertain people, and to be read aloud.
I think this one is one of those
poems because she uses full stops and capital letters to show when
pauses should be given and which words need particular emphasis. This
poem is serious, and thought provoking, and she uses unusual imagery to
compare her man to. I like the style she uses to give meaning to her
words, and how she uses punctuation and enjambement together which
gives an interesting effect. The mood is quite happy, as she describes her
man, who makes her feel warm and laughs through his own troubles.
The poem does not follow conventional structure, or use syllabic
sentencing on each line. The lines do not rhyme, and it is like Angelou
has just written down her thoughts, without purposefully making them
into a piece of poetry. The poem is twenty two lines long, and puts
important ideas...