Faces
Faces - meaning Summary
From Memory to Plea
The poem contrasts remembered childhood warmth with its rejection and brutalization. Angelou compresses images of lost innocence—sunless mornings, a wounded doll—then shifts to an ethical appeal: breathe, replace a momentary hate with organized love. The final image of a poet shouting a spiritual message in a subway questions who will heed such calls. Overall it moves from private memory to a public plea for deliberate compassion.
Read Complete AnalysesFaces and more remember then reject the brown caramel days of youth. Reject the sun-sucked tit of childhood mornings. Poke a muzzle of war in the trust-frozen eyes of a favored doll. Breathe, Brother, and displace a moment's hate with organized love. A poet screams “CHRIST WAITS AT THE SUBWAY!” But who sees?
Feel free to be first to leave comment.