Maya Angelou

Unmeasured Tempo

Unmeasured Tempo - meaning Summary

Delayed Decline and Loss

The poem examines aging, missed timing, and diminished potential. It contrasts bodily decline and faded sexual vitality with dreams that have been overindulged yet poorly understood. Knowledge accumulates without guiding action, and large ambitions narrow into petty wishes. The speaker registers a late arrival—someone who comes with a smile but after opportunity has passed—underscoring regret and the emotional cost of delay.

Read Complete Analyses

The sun rises at midday. Nubile breasts sag to waistlines while young loins grow dull, so late. Dreams are petted, like cherished lapdogs misunderstood and loved too well. Much knowledge wrinkles the cerebellum, but little informs. Leaps are made into narrow mincings. Great desires strain into petty wishes. You did arrive, smiling, but too late.

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