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''Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie'' (1971) is the first collection of poems by African-American writer and poet, Maya Angelou. Many of the poems in ''Diiie'' were originally song lyrics, written during Angelou's career as a night club performer, and recorded on two albums before the publication of Angelou's first autobiography ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' (1969). Angelou considers herself a poet and a playwright, but is best known for her seven autobiographies. She began, early in her writing career, of alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. Although her poetry collections have been best-sellers, they have not received serious critical attention〔 and are more interesting when read aloud.〔 ''Diiie'' is made up of two sections of 38 poems. The 20 poems in the first section, "Where Love is a Scream of Anguish", center on love. Many of the poems in this section and the next are structured like blues and jazz music, and have universal themes of love and loss. The eighteen poems in the second section, "Just Before the World Ends", focus on the experience of the survival of African Americans despite living in a society dominated by whites. Angelou uses the vernacular of African Americans, irony, understatement, and humor to make her statements about race and racism in America. She acts as a spokesperson for her race in these poems, in which her use of irony and humor allows her to speak for the collective and to assume a distance in order to make comments about her themes, topics, and subjects. Critic Kathy M. Essick have called the poems in ''Diiie'' "protest poems".〔 The metaphors in her poetry serve as "coding", or litotes, for meanings understood by other Blacks, although her themes and topics are universal for most readers to understand. ''Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie'' has received mixed reviews from critics, but was a best-seller and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.〔 Many critics expected that the volume would be popular despite their negative reviews, but others considered it well-written, lyrical, and a moving expression of social observation. ==Background== ''Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie'' is Maya Angelou's first volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age.〔 After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'', she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out her self-imposed muteness.〔 Angelou recorded two albums of poetry and songs she wrote during her career as a night club performer; the first in 1957 for Liberty Records and the second "The Poetry of Maya Angelou", for GWP Records the year before the publication of her first autobiography ''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' (1969). They were later incorporated into her volumes of poetry, including ''Diiie'', which was published the year after ''Caged Bird'' became a best-seller. ''Diiie'' also became a best-seller, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.〔〔 Despite thinking of herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write ''Caged Bird'',〔 she has been best known for her autobiographies.〔 Many of Angelou's readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second,〔 yet like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry.〔 Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has not been perceived as seriously her prose.〔 Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry is more interesting when she recites them. Bloom considers her performances dynamic, and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases".〔 Angelou's began, early in her writing career, of alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry.〔 Her publisher, Random House, placed the poems in ''Diiie'', along with her next four volumes, in her first collection of poetry, ''The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou'' (1994), perhaps to capitalize on her popularity following her reading of her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. A year later, in 1995, Angelou's publisher placed four more poems in a smaller volume, entitled ''Phenomenal Woman''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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