Which American poet wrote ‘When Great Trees Fall’, describing the loss of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.?

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) is an American author of ‘When Great Trees Fall’. She used symbolism and strong imagery in this poem to show her response to loss. It begins: ‘When great trees fall, / rocks on distant hills shudder, / lions hunker down in tall grasses, / and even elephants lumber after safety.”

It doesn’t matter how strong or tough you are; when an influential person in your life passes away, the effect is palpable. In a further stanza, the poem goes on to say, “When great souls die, / the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. / We breathe, briefly. / Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity.”

Her poem demonstrates that while we experience regrets with things left unsaid, our lives are made better by that person’s influence on us. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was assassinated on Maya Angelou’s birthday, April 4th, and his death deeply affected her. In fact she stopped celebrating her birthday for many years.

The final stanza invites the reader to transition from a sense of loss to a sense of restoration. It ends: “And when great souls die, / after a period peace blooms, / slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill / with a kind of soothing electric vibration. / Our senses, restored, never to be the same, / whisper to us. / They existed. / We can be. / Be and be better. / For they existed.”

Angelou spoke French, Spanish, Italian and West African Fanti and began her career in drama and dance and was a civil rights activist.