And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems

By: Maya Angelou

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Synopsis: Maya Angelou&’s unforgettable collection of poetry lends its name to the documentary film about her life, And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS&’s American Masters. Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I&’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model&’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I&’m telling lies. I say, It&’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I&’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That&’s me. Thus begins &“Phenomenal Woman,&” just one of the beloved poems collected here in Maya Angelou&’s third book of verse. These poems are powerful, distinctive, and fresh—and, as always, full of the lifting rhythms of love and remembering. And Still I Rise is written from the heart, a celebration of life as only Maya Angelou has discovered it. &“It is true poetry she is writing,&” M.F.K. Fisher has observed, &“not just rhythm, the beat, rhymes. I find it very moving and at times beautiful. It has an innate purity about it, unquenchable dignity. . . . It is astounding, flabbergasting, to recognize it, in all the words I read every day and night . . . it gives me heart, to hear so clearly the caged bird singing and to understand her notes.&”