What have we already learned about Maya Angelou?

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MAYA Angelou

"Willie"

Today we will look at Maya Angelou's poem "Willie"

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This poem is about her uncle​, who had some physical disabilities, and was living in difficult circumstances, but kept his spirits high.

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First, we will listen to Angelou read the poem herself.​

let's take a closer look!

It is helpful to read a poem multiple times.

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Our first reading helps us get some idea of big ideas and feeling of the poem.

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Our second, third, and fourth readings can help us understand specific details.​

​Maya Angelou's writing was influenced by her experiences as a Black woman and her experiences living through the Civil Rights Movement (1950s and 1960s).

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Because of this, as we read "Willie," we should focus on three questions:

let's take a closer look!

1. ​what can we learn about willie?

let's take a closer look!

​2. what can we learn about the civil rights movement?

​3. what poetic structures does maya angelou use?

Willie was a man without fame

Hardly anyone knew his name.

Crippled and limping, always walking lame,

He said, "I keep on movin'

Movin' just the same."​

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Solitude was the climate in his head

Emptiness was the partner in his bed,

Pain echoed in the steps of his tread,

He said "I keep on followin'

Where the leaders led."​

I may cry and I will die,

But my spirit is the soul of every spring,

Watch for me and you will see

That I'm present in the songs that children sing.​

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People called him "Uncle," "Boy" and "Hey,"

Said, "You can't live through another day."

Then, they waited to hear what he would say.

He said​, "I'm living

In the games that children play.​

"You may enter my sleep, people my dreams,

Threaten my early morning's ease,

But I keep comin' followin' laughin' cryin',

Sure as a summer breeze.

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"Wait for me, watch for me.

My spirit is the surge of open seas.

Look for me, ask for me,

I'm the rustle in the autumn leaves.​

"When the sun rises

I am the time.

When the children sing

I am the rhyme."​