Finding Repetition: This poem uses a refrain or chorus. What is your reaction to the words at the end of the poem compared to the first time you read or hear it?
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not a 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.
Video: Here is a video that presents the poem from a certain perspective. Does it change the way you understand the poem?
Alone By Maya Angelou from Brian Page on Vimeo.
I know the message is that we are not alone, but I think the video really shows that we are. plus the song would have been too distracting to the reading of the poem if I hadn't had the chance to read it before. In a way, I think it takes away from Angelou's message.
ReplyDeleteI think the video places the emphasis on the "alone" aspect instead of the people that are the problem (millionaires, etc).
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ReplyDeleteFrom the poem, I think the emphasis doesn't so much lie on people being alone, but the actions of others making it hard not to feel alone.
ReplyDeleteI felt that the music and video did not do justice to the poem, and clouds its meaning.