(Pictured with James Baldwin). 1928 – A Childhood Too Rough For Words. Actually Phenomenal Woman was published in 1978 in her book And still I rise. Phenomenal Woman is a free verse poem (has no rhyme scheme). Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women, The Patriot Summary and Analysis by Robert Browning, The Charge of the Light Brigade Analysis by Tennyson, Background, Casually Text by Nissim Ezekiel, The Charge of the Light Brigade Summary and Analysis – Alfred Lord Tennyson, Payam-e-Azadi by Azimullah Khan (1857)-First Patriotic Song of India. The poem can also be considered an attack on the Whites who consider themselves superior and discriminate against the people on the basis of their color. The poem thus challenges the traditional concept of beauty which is totally dependent on the fairness of skin. This is the secret of her beauty, her confidence, and her attractive figure though she lacks fair skin. Angelou is considered by many to have been the first African American woman to direct a major motion picture, with “Down in the Delta.” The story of redemption and healing, set in a southern town, was written by Myron Goble. When the men become more curious to know the secret of her beauty, the poet tells them that it is her curved back, her shining and glorious smile, the rhyming motion (ride) of her breasts and the elegance of her style which make her phenomenally, phenomenal woman. All Rights Reserved. Her way of stretching her arms, walking with long and decisive steps, stretched hips and curved lips i.e. It was subsequently published by Random House publication in a volume edited by Linda Sunshine and accompanying paintings by Paul Gaugin illustrating the poems, in the year 2000. Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women is a book of poems by Maya Angelou, published in 1995. Later she moved to Ghana, with Pan-Africanism in full swing. Checkout English Summary's free educational tools and dictionaries. (Shown: Wesley Snipes and Alfre Woodard). The marriage didn’t last long, but during it her love of dancing ignited, and she landed a gig at San Francisco’s Purple Onion. Phenomenal Woman was written in 1995!! Angelou continued to tell her life’s story as it was unfolding, in an series spanning decades: In addition to “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” she wrote “Gather Together in My Name” (1974), “Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas” (1976), “The Heart of a Woman” (1981), “All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes” (1986), “A Song Flung Up to Heaven” (2002), and “Mom and Me and Mom” (2013). The word Phenomenal means remarkable or exceptional, especially exceptionally good. 1950.). She was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Mo. In stanza 2, the poet says that whenever she walks into the room (in the way described above) though in an ordinary way, the men around either stand up or bend down to their knees and start staring at her. This is why each stanza ends with the phrase: In the first stanza, the poet says Pretty women wonder. Instead, she provides a number of arguments to prove that she is a Phenomenal Woman without such elements. 1. passion in her eyes, her beautiful smiling teeth (flash of my teeth), her swinging (moving to and fro) waist and the joy in her feet (probably the way she dances) that make her attractive and thus a phenomenally, phenomenal woman. quite beautiful and extraordinary woman. Inner mystery probably refers to the inner beauty which is common to all the women and it makes any woman beautiful and charming irrespective of the color of her skin. By the late 1960s Angelou had returned to the States. 1995. In New York, Angelou acted off Broadway, in “The Blacks,” with Cicely Tyson, James Earl Jones and Louis Gossett, Jr. She also created, with Godfrey Cambridge, the revue “Cabaret for Freedom,” to raise funds for the SCLC. This is why is she a phenomenally, phenomenal woman i.e. The poet, who has not fair skin and the elements of beauty rejects the traditional concept of beauty. A hard childhood there and in Stamps, Ark. The pretty woman refers to the woman of fair skin (probably the Whites). "Phenomenal Woman", "Still I Rise", and "Our Grandmothers" had appeared in And Still I Rise (1978); "Weekend Glory" had appeared in Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? The poet presents ample qualities that make her a more attractive, beautiful and desired woman. Actually Phenomenal Woman was published in 1978 in her book And still I rise. She doesn’t need to make noise or jump around or talk loud in order to make her presence felt before the men. In the poem, the poet challenges the traditional concept of beauty and tells the readers how beautiful she is and she is quite proud of it. The poem is one of the four poems in her collection Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems Celebrating Women. The poem Phenomenal Woman is written by civil rights activist and poet Maya Angelou (an African-American). Read 10 important questions on Phenomenal Woman. When she reveals her secret, they (pretty women) do not believe her because for them fairer skin is the only thing that makes a woman beautiful. A theater group discovered Marguerite Angelos (who renamed herself Maya Angelou), and in 1952 she joined the international tour of “Porgy and Bess.” A career as a calypsonian followed, and in 1957, Angelou she released her first album, “Miss Calypso.” Not content writing song lyrics, however, she moved to New York City to join the Harlem Writers Guild and immerse herself in the civil rights movement. Traditionally a woman is considered phenomenal only when she has fair skin and attractive figure. Phenomenal Woman is a free verse poem (has no rhyme scheme). Thus all these qualities make her phenomenally, phenomenal woman. But her spirit wasn’t broken, and by age 16 in San Francisco, she had already broken a barrier by becoming the city’s first black streetcar conductor. Here the inner mystery is something which for the poet is the secret of her beauty. [1] The poems in this short volume were published in Angelou's previous volumes of poetry. According to the poet, it is the fire i.e. The poet tells them that the secret of her beauty is her womanhood. They try a lot to find that secret but fail to do so as they cannot touch her inner mystery.