Abstract
The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994) manifests that Maya Angelou’s personal consciousness and public awareness sharpened her poetic capabilities. She used art to communicate the pathos and joys of her evolving spirit. This research paper explores the elements of survival, that is, endurance and aspiration in her poetry. The only freedom she enjoyed was the freedom to write which was rooted in her mind and not curbed by societal forces.
 The rationale of this paper is to trace how personal struggle and the quest for self-sustaining dignity in Maya Angelou’s poetry serves as an aspiration for America’s black community. Her cerebral autobiographies manifest her struggle for survival in a hostile and racist social environment and her poetry reflects the same.
 The objective of this research is to locate the motifs of endurance and aspiration in two of her poems namely The Caged Bird (1994) and Still I Rise (1994) from her anthology of Complete Collected Poems (1994). Caged Bird has become legendary due to the use of strong images, dichotomy and masked metaphors. Through these devices the poetess depicts her span of fragile development. As she grows physically and emotionally she discards her old mask and in Still I Rise, she presents her self-image with courage. The lyrical qualities of both poems provide soothing and healing power to the black community. In the light of the current analysis, this research paper concludes that the ultra fine resonance with repetition in Angelou’s poetry generates strong emotions. At the same time, it becomes a mode of free expression and endurance for the poetess. Furthermore, the outcome of this research is that it traces the dynamic elements of aspiration in her poetry through which she gains a voice, a voice to address her pathos with a modulated tone and to introduce the tools for productive survival.
Highlights
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St
The current paper utilizes a systematic, evaluative, explanatory, and qualitative research methodology to find out the important motifs of endurance and aspiration in Maya Angelou’s poetry with the use of secondary material, that is, journals and articles for the support of the argument
She proceeded as a spokesperson of the black community and her works are considered as representative of the black culture and as a defense of this culture. She appreciates her bodily features in her poetry. Her hair is kinky and pure black, as she indirectly states about her hair in her poem Caged Bird (Angelou, 1994)
Summary
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. A Study of Endurance and Aspiration in Maya She wrote in a dialect known as Black Secular, which is a form of expression related to common English and used metaphors and imagery that correlate with the themes of slavery in her poems. She wrote many volumes of poetry which include Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey (1993), And Still I Rise (1987), I Shall Not Be Moved (1990), Shaker Why Don't You Sing? The current paper utilizes a systematic, evaluative, explanatory, and qualitative research methodology to find out the important motifs of endurance and aspiration in Maya Angelou’s poetry with the use of secondary material, that is, journals and articles for the support of the argument
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