# What's the word on Maya Angelou? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618 "2007-02-02T23:43:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/41 "2007-02-05T01:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] That’s not blank verse, actually - blank verse has meter. [/QUOTE] Right. Blank verse is unrhymed iambic pentameter. Free verse is generally unrhymed and without a set meter, though rhymes and meters can still be found lurking around in many free verse poems. Poetry also does not require line breaks (someone mentioned this above). The line between prose and poems is extremely fluid and dynamic. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/42 "2007-02-05T04:49:44Z")
One of my favorite poems I found scratched into the wall of a men’s room. It read thus: Roses are red Violets are blue, Some poems rhyme and some poems don’t. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/43 "2007-02-05T05:20:05Z")
Trite, cloying doggerel. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/44 "2007-02-05T14:34:45Z")
> [@Maya Angelou](#): > > The walls of ignorance and prejudice and cruelty, which she railed against valiantly all her public life, have not fallen, but their truculence to do so does not speak against her determination to make them collapse. It sounds like she went to say “reluctance”, and missed. > [@Mark Twain](#): > > The difference between the right word, and the almost-right word, is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Rather reminds me of [this thread,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=137387&highlight=Poet) unfortunately. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/45 "2007-02-05T14:53:39Z")
I’ve only read a few of her poems, and less than a hundred pages of _I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings_. Color me unimpressed. Her affected English accent also annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/46 "2007-02-05T22:08:57Z")
According to Merriam-Webster, **truculence** = belligerence = assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness _The walls of ignorance and prejudice and cruelty, which she railed against valiantly all her public life, have not fallen, but their [belligerence] to do so does not speak against her determination to make them collapse._ The walls of ignorance, prejudice, and cruelty were fighting against attempts to make them fall. Makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/47 "2007-02-05T22:36:19Z")
I may belong to the only Department of English represented on this messageboard to have invited Ms. Angelou to read her verse to our students. Needless to say, it was an excruciating embarrassment to the published poets on the faculty, a mark of shame to most of the other members of the English Department, a mild blot on the rest of the faculty of arts and sciences, and utterly unnoted by the other faculty, staff and students, who all assumed that because she had read at Clinton’s inauguration, she was a real poet and the stuff she was reading was poetry. She had been invited by our new university president, who wouldnt recognize a poem if it chewed on her buttocks and who didn’t think to ask the poets what we felt about her choice. Paid a pretty penny to get her, too, as I recall–could have gotten three or four real poets for that money. I myself got into hot water because I refused to cancel my class so my students could attend her reading. I didn’t have tenure at the time, and took some heat for my refusal. Some of my students were made to skip my class because they had been assigned to the attend the reading, ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/48 "2007-02-05T23:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] According to Merriam-Webster, **truculence** = belligerence = assertiveness, hostility, or combativeness _The walls of ignorance and prejudice and cruelty, which she railed against valiantly all her public life, have not fallen, but their [belligerence] to do so does not speak against her determination to make them collapse._ The walls of ignorance, prejudice, and cruelty were fighting against attempts to make them fall. Makes sense to me. [/QUOTE] Problem is, the phrase “to do so” means “to fall”, so the second half of the sentence makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/49 "2007-02-06T00:38:05Z")
If **truculence** means **hostility** , then “truculence to do so” means “hostility to do so.” ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/50 "2007-02-06T00:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=KayElCee] A lot (probably most) of Angelou’s poetry can make for trite reading, but does come alive when read/performed. _Phenomenal Woman_ is “meh” on the printed page, but performed on stage by a young African American woman, it can be a moving experience. [/QUOTE] You pretty much took the words out of my mouth. There is something about the rhymes and meter that are conducive for what one might call “inspirational” readings, and they have a forcefulness in a good delivery that falls flat in print. Not great, I suppose, but quite effective in the right context (though I think the context is more “event” oriented and not just a more informal/casual setting, which probably speaks to the inherent limitations of her work). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/51 "2007-02-06T00:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] If **truculence** means **hostility** , then “truculence to do so” means “hostility to do so.” [/QUOTE] Yes, but that still doesn’t scan. “Their hostility to fall?” You can see what she was _trying_ to say, but what she actually said is incoherent. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/52 "2007-02-06T01:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Yes, but that still doesn’t scan. “Their hostility to fall?” You can see what she was _trying_ to say, but what she actually said is incoherent. [/QUOTE] An -ing on fall would help. I hate when people choose words that they don’t seem to know how to use. It’s worse from a poet. It makes me… truculent. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/53 "2007-02-06T01:02:22Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] If **truculence** means **hostility** , then “truculence to do so” means “hostility to do so.” [/QUOTE] Except nobody (other than Ms. Angelou) ever uses it that way. Mostly you see the adjective “truculent”; when “truculence” is used, it’s more in the form of “his truculence kept others at a distance”; in any case, if someone said “his belligerence to do so” or “his hostility to do so”, you’d think, at best, they spoke English as a second language. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/54 "2007-02-06T01:05:43Z")
[QUOTE=woodstockbirdybird] Except nobody (other than Ms. Angelou) ever uses it that way. Mostly you see the adjective “truculent”; when “truculence” is used, it’s more in the form of “his truculence kept others at a distance”; in any case, if someone said “his belligerence to do so” or “his hostility to do so”, you’d think, at best, they spoke English as a second language. [/QUOTE] Well, to be honest, I know a lot of poets, and some of them speak poet-ese as their first language. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/55 "2007-02-06T02:58:04Z")
Well, the response in this thread has been overwhelmingly negative. So why is this woman so famous? And it’s not just that she’s popular with audiences; according to her [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou), she has [QUOTE=Angelou’s Wikipedia entry] …been honored by numerous academic institutions throughout her career. She has been awarded a fellowship by Yale University, and also served as a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar in Italy. Angelou has taught at the University of Ghana, University of Kansas, and at Wake Forest University, where she holds a lifetime chair as the Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of American Studies. For several years Angelou has delivered an opening address to the incoming freshman class of Duke University. Although Angelou has, in her later career, received several honorary doctorates, she never received a college education. [/QUOTE] What gives? Why is she so honored if she’s apparently not that good? (I’m trusting the mass wisdom of Dopers here – y’all have never led me wrong before…) And while people are analyzing her writing, I have to submit this bit from her bio at her [website](http://www.mayaangelou.com/ShortBio.html). It’s at the very least awkwardly phrased, IMHO. [QUOTE=Angelou’s bio] A mesmerizing vision of grace, swaying and stirring when she moves, Dr. Angelou captivates her audiences lyrically with vigor, fire and perception. [/QUOTE] 😕 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/56 "2007-02-06T04:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] Well, the response in this thread has been overwhelmingly negative. So why is this woman so famous? [/QUOTE] It’s not exactly unusual for really bad poets to be famous. See: McKuen, Rod. Bukowski, Charles. Kilmer, Joyce. Stepanek, Mattie. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/57 "2007-02-06T04:37:10Z")
Bukowski isnt’ near McKuen’s or Kilmer’s awfulness. Probably a better novelist than a poet, but a decent wrter, with an original voice and outlook. I never heard of Stepanek. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/58 "2007-02-06T05:14:23Z")
I just saw Maya Angelou on a commercial for Target. Hey, gravitas can also be gotten at a discount! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/59 "2007-02-06T05:16:16Z")
There’s two kinds of poets. There are poets who write and ethrall with the exigency of their word choices, and poets who do the same performing their poems. Of the latter group, whatever deficiencies exist in the technical aspects of the writing of the poem is often disguised by how well the poet reads it. Ms. Angelou is very solidly in the second camp of poet. More to the point: she writes the kind of poems any inspired and talented performer can perform better than she. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618/60 "2007-02-06T05:18:34Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] And while people are analyzing her writing, I have to submit this bit from her bio at her [website](http://www.mayaangelou.com/ShortBio.html). It’s at the very least awkwardly phrased, IMHO. 😕 [/QUOTE] What? You don’t sway and stir when you walk? I do, unless of course I’m being truculent. Then I stomp and storm ignitingly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-word-on-maya-angelou/390618.md?page=4)