Alone

Alone

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don't believe I'm wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

By Maya Angelou

                

    Maya Angelou uses a lot of figurative language throughout the poem. Angelou also uses personification in a biblical sense when saying, “Where water is not thirsty… and bread loaf is not stone.” Jesus says to the women at the well that he can give her water such that she will never thirst again. Also the bread loaf is not stone may refer to God giving good gifts which goes on to say what father when asked for bread gives his children a stone instead. She also uses a rhyming scheme of AB, AB for example in the third stanza where she rhymes, “With money they can’t use… Their children sing the blues.” What I enjoyed about this poem was the fact that it was centered around the idea that not only can a person successfully live alone, it’s the idea that a person can’t be happy when they isolate themselves from other people of the world. At the same time that you can narrow this idea down to being about one person disconnecting themselves from society, you are also able to relate it to society and even nations as a whole. Humanity isn't able to survive without the company of others. And when she mentions that she can hear the human race suffering, moaning from the pain, I believe that ties into all of the racism in the world due to prejudices and preconceived notions that aren't true. All they do is separate humanity. I enjoyed this poem because it was a hidden message, but at the same time a real eye-opener.