Maya Angelou, born in 1928, had a broad career as a singer, dancer, actor and composer, and was Hollywood’s fi rst black female director, but became most famous as a writer, editor, essayist, playwright and poet.
In 2010, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the US, by President Barack Obama. Angelou was awarded over fi fty honorary degrees before her death in 2014.
Maya Angelou’s work deals with the themes of love, loss, motherhood, womanhood, identity, the racial crisis in America and many other issues. We will see the themes of motherhood, womanhood, identity and love in the next three poems.
This fi rst poem is a great example of the theme of motherhood. The fi rst fourteen lines list the woman’s chores. The fast rhythm mimics the busy, relentless drudgery of her daily life. Then, she looks up from her work to see nature around her. The mood changes, the tone lifts. She becomes lyrical as she describes how much the beauty of nature means to her.
‘Woman Work’
I’ve got the children to tend The clothes to mend The fl oor to mop The food to shop Then the chicken to fry The baby to dry I got company to feed The garden to weed I’ve got the shirts to press The tots to dress The cane to be cut
