Poem:

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Author:
Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson, was a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American Poet. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 8, 1928, and died in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 28, 2014. She was also a dancer, an actress, and a singer. In early life, she was educated at the San Francisco Labor School, where she won a scholarship to study dance and drama, but she left at the age of 14 to become a cable conductor. She was the first African-American woman to do this job. She gave birth when she was 16 years old, where she had her only child named Guy. Angelou is one of the most significant authors of her time and is seen as a torch-bearer for African-American women.

Date Written: 12th June, 2017

Title: Touched by an Angel

Paraphrase:
Stanza 1: Is about love being something that’s not from this world, or not from earth. Love is something that is holy and divine. Stanza 1 describes people that simply live their lives and go with the flow, and is afraid to try to change about themselves. These people lack the courage to change, “We, unaccustomed to courage.” Also, these unhappy people are stuck in their own shells and they do not feel loved, shown as “exiles from delight” and “lived coiled in shells of loneliness.” Until love touches them and changes them.Stanza 2: In this stanza, love is described as a cargo in a train that can bring either bring pain and happiness in the future. Furthermore, it is quoted that if we are to be bold, we can strike away from the chain of fear. Which implies that love may carry pain but if one can face those pains and be bold, love can strike away those fears.

Stanza 2: In this stanza, love is described as a cargo in a train that can bring either bring pain and happiness in the future. Furthermore, it is quoted that if we are to be bold, we can strike away from the chain of fear. Which implies that love may carry pain but if one can face those pains and be bold, love can strike away those fears.

Stanza 3: It summarizes the subject of the poem, which is to let go of everything to find love and be daring and brave to be free of the simplicity of living through life, and to also find delight and freedom in life. However, by doing so, one must let go of everything and be submitted, because love is not easy. But once realized, the person can enter the flush of love’s light and from letting go and taking the bold step to find love, the reward of getting love will be far greater than the devotion and submission.

Vocabulary:
unaccustomed – not familiar or usual; out of the ordinary
exile – the state of being barred from one’s native country, typically for political or punitive reasons
ecstasies – an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement
timidity – lack of courage or confidence

Poetic Devices:
The poem has no set rhyme scheme but is written in rhythmically-flowing free verse. There are multiple end-rhymes, such as “delight” and “sight” in the second and fifth lines, or “see”.

Form (rhyme, blank, free):
Free verse