Maya Angelou

Artful Pose

Artful Pose - meaning Summary

Tenderness Versus Bitter Truth

The poem contrasts gentle, lyrical subjects—falling leaves, melting snows, birds and tender nights—with the speaker’s refusal to mimic that calm. The narrator’s pencil stops because those scenes feel inadequate; instead the poem insists on confronting betrayal, hatred, and wrath. It presents poetic choice as ethical: whether to beautify the world or to record its bitterness. The tone shifts from wistful to urgent and uncompromising.

Read Complete Analyses

Of falling leaves and melting snows, of birds in their delights Some poets sing their melodies tendering my nights sweetly. My pencil halts and will not go along that quiet path. I need to write of lovers false and hate and hateful wrath quickly.

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