Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 as Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, America. She has a career that spans a wide range of professions as an author, poet, historian, civil rights activist, producer, director, singer and dancer. She has written seven autobiographies and several volumes of poetry. She was a spokesperson for the blacks and the women.
Two for her most loved poems are Phenomenal women and Still I rise, these poems depict an image of a universal women, who is a paragon of strength and pride. Angelou was strongly attracted to the notion of rising and hence the word “rise” is repeated ten times in the latter poem. She was the first black woman poet to read her poem (on the pulse of morning) at the inauguration of president Bill Clinton in 1993, which intensified her popularity. Angelou's most famous autobiography, 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings' (1969) describes a shattering movement in her life. As a civil rights activist Angelou worked with Martin Luther king and Malcolm X who inspired her greatly. Maya Angelou was nominated for the national booker award in 1970 , and for the Pulitzer price in 1971. she has also received innumerable awards and honor and over thirty honorary degrees. She firmly believed that the 'honorary duty of a human being is love'.
The poem describes about old people, who no longer practice simpering and feel free to laugh as they wish. They don't bother the people around them, their laugh is an act of liberation. Their only weakness are slow movements and inability to hold their head steadily. They teach how to laugh free and welcome death which will release them from all impediments. And finally the irexperience of the world has made peace with all that has occurred in their lives. The poem is written in free verse. There is no fixed rhyme structure. There is considerable
variation in the line length. Large part is written in short lines using run on lines (enjambment)
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