Introduction
The poems, ‘Alone’ and ‘Phenomenal woman’ have been done by Maya Angelou. Phenomenal woman is a poem that discusses a woman as a strong figure. The poet is a woman who regardless of the societal judgments remains strong (Fitri, 2019). The poem Alone is about someone who is sad and desires for spiritual rest. The poem explains the need for each other to live peacefully. The poems have certain similarities and differences (Chapman, 2020).
Similarities
The poem has used similar stylistic devices in certain instances. One of the devices that has been shared in both poems is imagery. In Phenomenal women, imagery has been used in describing the woman’s body. How the poet describes her body succeeds in letting us imagine how she looks (Fitri, 2019). As quoted, "the span of my hips, The stride of my step, and the curl of my lips” show the imagery. From these stanzas, the poet succeeds in pushing our minds to draw an imagery view of her.
Alone, the poet has used imagery to make the audience to imagine or put themselves in the place of riches. The correct choice of words and tone stimulates the audience to imagine how they are rich and how they will still rich they will require other people to live comfortably (Chapman, 2020). The use of descriptive language in the poem explains imagery.
Both poems have used rhyme. Although all the poems are free verse narratives, rhyme has been seen in certain cases. For alone, the entire poem does not have a rhyme scheme. The stanzas have displayed rhyme on numerous occasions like stone and alone, know, and blow (Chapman, 2020). This aims at achieving musicality. For the second poem, the poet has used the refrains and rhyme scheme. The refrain has been seen in the use of similar lines in every stanza. This are the four lines that have been used repetitively (Fitri, 2019). This helps achieve musicality.
Differences
The two poems show a difference in the themes they are addressing. The poem, phenomenal woman addresses various themes. One of those themes is that of female power. This is the major theme in the entire poem (Fitri, 2019). The poet is a woman who is free and very confident in herself. The description provided is that of a woman who does not bow to critics or disapproval from men and instead used her feminine features against men. I quote, “I walk into a room just as cool as you please and to a man, the fellows stand or fall to their knees.” This shows the strength of the female aura.
In the poem, Alone, the main them is that of suffering. The poet identifies suffering among human beings. The poet identifies the change in the lifestyles of the people and how this is not making things any better and instant it is increasing pain (Chapman, 2020). “With money, they can’t use, their wives run around like banshees, their children sing the blues.” Those lines show the pain people are going through regardless of having lots of money.
Tone and mood
The tone of the poem Alone is somber. The poet expresses sadness in every line especially in trying to show that there is suffering all over. The pain people are expressing can be felt from the choice of words and expressions(Chapman, 2020). His repetitive use of the word nobody in the context shows the pain people will go through if they keep trying to act like they can survive by themselves. The painful mod is also illustrated in the speaker's words of trying to “find her soul a home.” The loneliness in that statement brings out the pain.
In the phenomenal woman, the poet brings out a tone of strength. The poet in all the work uses a very powerful tone. All the stanzas and lines show great strength. The speaker is a woman who seems free and through the different gifts in her body, she remains strong against the society and men (Fitri, 2019). How she describes herself brings out immeasurable strength and confidence. Besides, the poet seems to have supremacy in a way especially in how she describes, “The fellows stand or fall on their knees.” This brings out the tone of strength.
Figures of speech
The speaker in the poem, Alone has used biblical allusions in her work. This reference to the Bible brings out the spiritual path of the poet. This speaker seeks a home for her soul and from the description, peace will find her only if she finds a spiritual home (Chapman, 2020). In the first stanza, “where water is not thirsty and bread loaf is not stone” bring out biblical allusion. This brings out the spiritual faith of the poet.
For the Phenomenal woman, the poet does not bring out any elements of spirituality and instead believes solely in herself. The main figure of speech evident however is irony. The poet ridicules the expected view of the perfect woman and instead discusses her understanding of a strong woman (Fitri, 2019). She unopenly explains that the perfect woman is a mockery of feminine beauty, which can only be seen in the strong woman.
Conclusion
Maya Angelou has done great work in the poems, phenomenal woman, and alone. The poems have brought out different features and some similarities. Some of the similarities as seen are that they are all free verse narratives and they have all employed imagery as a stylistic device. In the differences, the poems discuss different themes use different figures of speech and have different tones.
References
Chapman, D. (2020). Lifting Scholars’ Voices: An Analysis of Scholars’ Reflections on Mentoring as Support in the Academy. From Student to Scholar (pp. 221-229). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Fitri, N. (2019). An Analysis Lexical and Contextual Meaning of Poem Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou.
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