Poemas completos de Maya Angelou

La obra completa de Maya Angelou, titulada Poemas recopilados , fuepublicada por Random House en 1994. Se trata de la primera colección de su poesía publicada tras la lectura de su poema « On the Pulse of Morning » en la investidura del presidente Bill Clinton en 1993. Incluye sus cinco libros de poesía anteriores, publicados entre 1971 y 1990. La prosa de Angelou ha tenido mayor éxito que su poesía, que ha recibido escasa atención por parte de la crítica especializada.

Poemas completos de Maya Angelou es la primera colección de poesía de Angelou. Para cuando se publicó en 1994, ya había publicado cinco autobiografías, llegando a publicar siete, y cinco libros de poesía. Al principio de su carrera literaria, alternó la publicación de una autobiografía con un poemario. ^{[ 1 ]}

Su editorial, Random House , incluyó los poemas de sus volúmenes anteriores en esta colección, quizás para capitalizar su popularidad tras la lectura de su poema " On the Pulse of Morning " en la investidura del presidente Bill Clinton en 1993. Los volúmenes incluidos en la colección son Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (1975), And Still I Rise (1978), Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? (1983) y I Shall Not Be Moved (1990). También se incluyó "On the Pulse of Morning". La editorial de Angelou incluyó cuatro poemas publicados anteriormente en un volumen más pequeño, titulado Phenomenal Woman , en 1995. ^{[ 2 ]}

Angelou studied and began writing poetry at a young age.^[3] After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings(1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness.^[4] She considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird,^[5] but she is best known for her autobiographies.^[6] Many of her readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second,^[6] but, like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry.^[7]

Critic William Sylvester has stated that although Angelou's books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention".^[8] Bloom also believes that her poetry is more interesting when she recites them. Bloom calls her performances "characteristically dynamic",^[7] and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases".^[7]

In 2015, a year after Angelou's death, Random House published an expanded collection entitled Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry. In addition to all of the poems in this collection, it adds a dozen of her poems published after "On the Pulse of Morning", specifically those in Celebrations, Rituals of Peace and Prayer (including "A Brave and Startling Truth" and Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me) that were not in the original collection, plus "His Day Is Done", published after the death of Nelson Mandela in 2013, and the previously unpublished "Amazement Awaits", which had been commissioned for the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[9]