Ode to Dr. Maya Angelou
Famous writers
Authors of Odes
Famous Englishmen
- Edmund Spencer
- John Dryden
- William Wordsworth
- Thomas Gray
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- John Keats
Although many of these used varied forms from iambic, to non rhyming and Pindaric.
In the 17th century, Abraham Cowley wrote some of the most important English odes with irregular line patterns and rhyme schemes. These were iambic.
A revival of the use and form took place in the 18th century under the influence of William Wordsworth's work titled Intimations of Immortality.
Romantic poets like the englishman John Keats, whose contemporaries were Lord Byron and Percy B Shelley are known for their works, making them some of the most notable and beloved of public literary personalities using sensual imagery in his poems.
An Ode
Wikipedia defines an ode as a Ancient Greek lyrical stanza.
It is divided into 3 major parts.
- strophe
- antistrophe
- epode
It is an elaborately structured poem that praises or glorifies a person or event emotionally or naturally intellectually.
Origins
Odes began as poetic pieces preformed with the accompaniment of musical instruments, especially those of the aulos and the lyre.
Instruments
Aulos
Greek wind instrument that resembles a flute, a classical reed instrument
Lyre
revered by the ancient Greeks
Romans who practiced the Ode from Lesbos made sure the lyrical form used was based on the written form, specifically preformed by their lyricists
Inspirational
She called herself a 'phenomenal' woman to convey what she she had to come to believe about herself. Not through the accolades of others but her experience with her creator God who inspired her to write, explore her own voice and inspire other women especially to believe who they are because of the love He shared.
She inspired her generation as an activist and educator.
She inspired the upcoming generations with her books and poems like I know why the caged bird sings.
She inspired my generation and my daughter's generation and those coming along through her poems, movie and tv appearances and what she continued to do influencing others to try, do and accomplish great things leaving legacies beyond themselves.
She holds all the accolades to go along with all of her accomplishments but Maya Angelo is a renaissance woman.
Renaissance woman
I classify women like Dr. Maya Angelo as renaissance women.
She is not alone but she is venerated because of the people she has been associated with and what she has been through then using her voice in turn to inspire not only people within her own nation but those around the globe.
A renaissance woman is defined like their male counterpart as someone who is cultured, knowledgeable, educated or proficient in a wide range of fields.
They make it their business to embrace life at it's best and enjoy learning and those experiences, then turning around, they use it to encourage others to take chances and make the most of their own God given talents.
Celebrities influenced
- Oprah Winfrey
- Tyler Perry
- U.S. President Barack Obama and Mrs Obama
and men and women in other areas ranging from politics, art, music, movies, TV and of course books and other forms of media.
- 10 Questions for Maya Angelou - Video - TIME.com
Writer, educator and activist Maya Angelou talks to TIME about her unusual relationship with her mother, why she likes guns, and why she has written seven autobiographies
Voice
We all have one.
How we choose to express it is influenced by the inner creative spirit of God within us.
It's that voice that drives outward expression.
That expression is as individual as our fingerprints.
It can also be influenced by many things, but in it's purity, truth is sought and released.
The voice of the individual should always be encouraged !!!
That is our God given right.
Maya Angelou learned that and articulated it in her book, I know why the caged bird sings.
My ode
I heard of a renaissance woman,
I envied her.
She walked like she owned the ground that she tread upon
She would reach to heaven.
Arms stretched wide, palms open.
And talk about God,
Like He was a close friend.
Like that wasn't odd.
She would declare to anyone that listened,
You could live phenomenally.
You could tell folks when to back off,
And you never had to choke.
She declared that she'd learned forgiveness,
And that was great, and no joke.
But it didn't mean you had to share your plate.
She said no matter what if someone showed you who they were,
Never second guess them because that is who they are.
She told of her experiences of her mother and her mother's mother,
She used that and inspired people around her,
As well as others,
She rose to the pinnacle of earthly success,
Yet never missed a chance to talk about her God's greatness,
Or her God experiences.
Renaissance woman that's who she be, Phenomenally
Dr Maya Angelou
by PBW
Who inspires you as a great African American author?
Throughout history from the time written words and writing were introduced people, black people or people of color have been writing down words.
Stories
Experiences
History
It didn't matter.
In Africa, Timbuktu to be exact, books or centers of learning where books were precious commodities thrived.
Libraries thrived there. And men from around the known world traveled there to either see those books, scrolls or parchments because it was what an educated man did, if he aspired to learn more.
Treks to the continent of Africa where papyrus was developed and utilized makes one excited about what we now refer to as the motherland, the place where the garden of Eden must be and the cradle of civilization developed.
