1 page essay “The Ruined Maid” Thomas Hardy

Africa is a poem by Maya Angelou who is African American poet. The poet uses her own understanding and view of things to describe Africa where she makes use of color imagery, similes, and other forms of legendary basics. This poem shows the magnificence, past, and power of Africa as a nation. Comparison of woman to the physical configurations of Africa is done to show what Africa went through in the hands of Europeans especially those who colonized them.

According to Maya Angelou, Africa suffered in the hands of its colonizers. Africa went through a lot of pressure and violence from European people as a result of colonization and slave trade. She shows how Africa is beautiful and also is sad which is showed by Niles of tears. Poet shows the things that Africa was forced to do by Europeans like religion, the slave trade and violence upon their dominations. It’s through the poem that Africa is seen changing its tone of suffering and getting more powerful after gaining courage with agenda of freeing itself from its colonizers (Neubauer, 1990).. In the poem there is description of Africa as sticking up for herself and to end with shouting out about the discriminations it’s going through.

Africa is being incarnated as a woman for its defined as having hair, feet, breasts, and tears who suffers. As a black woman, Maya Angelou identifies with Africa in that they have been black throughout their life time. She starts showing how she is beautiful just as the Africa is via use of imagery comparing Africa with woman like her (Lupton, 1998). She uses imagery to compare Africa with a beautiful woman. Africans were discriminated and hated by other tries especially women who were kidnapped and enslaved which she struggles for her freedom later.

In conclusion, “Africa” a poem by Maya Angelou is used to show Africa just like women suffered in the hands of Europeans. Imagery, similes, and other styles of writing have been used to express ideas of the author.