Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allen Poe, Tupac

My mother said I must always be

intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.

MAYA ANGELOU

BORN: April 4, 1928 DIED: Still living PARENTS: Bailey and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson EDUCATION: Attended public schools in Arkansas and California. Studied dance with Martha Graham and drama with Frank Silvera. AWARDS and HONORS: A nomination for National Book Award, a Yale University fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize nomination, Honorary degrees from Smith College, and a Tony Award nomination for best supporting actress. She was also named Woman of the Year in Communications by Ladies Home Journal, and was named one of the top hundred most influential women. FAMOUS WORKS: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, On the Pulse of the Morning, Phenomenal Women, And Sill I Rise

Alone
Lying, thinking Last night How to find my soul a home Where water is not thirsty And bread loaf is not stone I came up with one thing And I don't believe I'm wrong That nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone. There are some millionaires With money they can't use Their wives run round like banshees Their children sing the blues They've got expensive doctors To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody No, nobody Can make it out here alone. Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone. Now if you listen closely I'll tell you what I know Storm clouds are gathering The wind is gonna blow The race of man is suffering And I can hear the moan, 'Cause nobody, But nobody Can make it out here alone. Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.

I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.

Langston Hughes

Birth Date: February 1, 1902

Death Date: May 22, 1967

Parents: James Nathaniel Hughes and Carrie Mercer Langston Education Background: He went to a white school in Topeka, KS Honors and Awards: A leading runner and high jumper, In may 1925 his first book was The Weary Blues: it got first place in poetry.

He was a poet, playwright, and novelist. Famous Works: The Weary Blues, The Negro Speaks of Rivers, Thank You Mam

Mother to Son
Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor Bare. But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps. 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now For I'se still goin', honey, I'se still climbin', And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.

EMILY DICKINSON

Born: 10 December 1830 Birthplace: Amherst, Massachusetts Died: 15 May 1886 Best Known As: The poet called "The Belle of Amherst"

Emily Dickinson lived quietly in Amherst, Massachusetts and wrote poetry for most of her adult life. Her verses were short but inventive, and her themes universal: love, death, and her relationship with God and nature. Dickinson was not famous during her lifetime; she rarely left Amherst and according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "after the late 1860s [she] never left the boundaries of the familys property."

I Shall Not Live in Vain

If I can stop one Heart from breaking I shall not live in vain If I can ease one Life the Aching Or cool one Pain Or help one fainting Robin Unto his Nest again I shall not live in Vain.

Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.

Robert Frost

Nationality - American Lifespan - 1874 - 1963 Father - William Prescott Frost Junior, editor of the San Francisco Daily Evening Post Education - Harvard Career - Poet, essayist, educator, and critic Famous Poems by Robert Lee Frost 'Birches' a poem 'Dust of Snow' a poem 'Fire and Ice' a poem 'Mending Wall'

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty.

EDGAR ALLAN POE

Nationality - American

Lifespan - 1809 - 1849

Father - David Poe - Actor

Educated - England, University of Virginia, West Point and various others Career - Poet and author - First Published - 1827 Famous Works - " The Black Cat " " Fall of the House of Usher " and " The Raven "
Famous Poems by Edgar Allan Poe " Annabel Lee " a poem " The Raven " a poem " The Tell Tale Heart " a short story

-1vote 89 3094 4867 Vote

A Dream

In visions of the dark night I have dreamed of joy departed But a waking dream of life and light Hath left me broken-hearted. Ah! what is not a dream by day To him whose eyes are cast On things around him with a ray Turned back upon the past? That holy dream - that holy dream, While all the world were chiding, Hath cheered me as a lovely beam A lonely spirit guiding. What though that light, thro' storm and night, So trembled from afar What could there be more purely bright In Truth's day-star?

I am as bad as the worst, but, than God, I am as good as the best.

WALT WHITMAN

American poet, essayist, and journalist Birth: May 31, 1819 Death: March 26, 1892 Place of Birth: West Hills, New York Known for: His unconventional, individualistic, and dynamic poetic style, which overlooked traditional rules of metrical structure Influence on Others: Influenced modern poets William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, and Allen Ginsberg Opposition: Opposed slavery, but not an abolitionist

I HEAR AMERICA SINGING I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear; Those of mechanicseach one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong; The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work; The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boatthe deckhand singing on the steamboat deck; The shoemaker singing as he sits on his benchthe hatter singing as he stands; The wood-cutters songthe ploughboys, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;

The delicious singing of the motheror of the young wife at workor of the girl sewing or washingEach singing what belongs to her, and to none else; The day what belongs to the dayAt night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.

"I want to grow. I want to be better. You Grow. We all grow. We're made to grow. You either evolve or you disappear.

TUPAC SHAKUR

Born in New York City, Tupac grew up primarily in Harlem. In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends withJ ada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital Underground. In the same year he received individual recognition for his album "2Pacalypse Now," but this album was also the beginning of his notoriety as a leading figure of the gangsta permutation of hiphop, with references to cop killing and sexual violence. His solo movie career also began in this year with Juice (1992), and in 1992 he costarred with Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (1993).

Following the Tyson vs. Sheldon fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was hit by four bullets while riding in a car driven by Death Row Records chief executive Marion 'Suge' Knight

Can You See the Pride in the Panther

Can You See the Pride In the Panther As he grows in splendor and grace Topling obstacles placed in the way, of the progression of his race. Can You See the Pride In the Panther as she nurtures her young all alone The seed must grow regardless of the fact that it is planted in stone. Can You See the Pride In the Panthers as they unify as one. The flower blooms with brilliance, and outshines the rays of the sun.