Just For A Time by Maya Angelou - Poem Analysis (2024)

The lines of this poem discuss nostalgia and how it’s important not to dwell on the past while also spending some time dwelling on the past. The speaker is able to remember and appreciate a past relationship without being overly emotional about it or feeling like they want to be transported into the past.

To get the most out of this poem, readers can spend time analyzing each image. While the poem isn’t overly complicated, you can get a lot out of the figurative language the poet chose to use in ‘Just For A Time.’

Just For A TimeMaya Angelou

Oh how you used to walkWith that insouciant smileI liked to hear you talkAnd your stylePleased me for a while.

You were my early loveNew as a day breaking in SpringYou were the image ofEverythingThat caused me to sing.

(...)

Read the full poem text.

Explore Just For A Time

1 Summary
2 Structure and Form
3 Literary Devices
4 Detailed Analysis

Summary

‘Just For A Time’ by Maya Angelou is a sweet poem that discusses nostalgia and a relationship.

In the first part of this poem, the speaker recalls the charm of a former lover. This person had a distinctive style and engaged her in conversation easily. The poet goes on to say that it’s important not to dwell on the past. There is a degree of nostalgia that’s not healthy.

The poem ends with the repetition of the phrase “For a time.” This emphasizes how fleeting the entire relationship was and how she knows that it was not meant to last forever.

The Poem Analysis Take

Expert Insights by Emma Baldwin

B.A. English (Minor: Creative Writing), B.F.A. Fine Art, B.A. Art Histories

For most people, balancing remembering the past with not dwelling on it is difficult. This poem demonstrates what that perfect mental balance between these two features of remembering would be like. This could be something that connects with readers or feels out-of-reach, depending on one's experiences.

Structure and Form

‘Just For A Time’ by Maya Angelou is a three-stanza poem. The first and second stanzas rhyme in a pattern of ABABB, and the third, which is longer, rhymes in a pattern of ABCCBDEDEFFFF. The poet uses perfect and exact rhymes in these lines. These include the repetition of “time” three times in the final stanza. This is an example of an epistrophe.

Literary Devices

In this poem, the poet makes use of a few different literary devices. For example:

Anaphora: This occurs when the poet repeats the same word or phrase multiple times at the beginning of lines. For example, “For” starts two lines at the end of the poem.
Enjambment: This can be seen when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines one and two of stanza one as well as lines one and two of stanza two.
Apostrophe: Throughout this poem, the speaker addresses a lover. It seems likely that while the lines are addressed to this person, they aren’t actively listening. This makes the poem an example of an apostrophe.

Detailed Analysis

Stanza One

Ohhow youusedto walk
(…)
Pleased me for a while.

In the first stanza of this poem, the speaker spends the lines reminiscing on a person they used to know. The speaker loved this person deeply, but their relationship, whatever it was, was over.

This doesn’t mean that they’re unwilling to think about it and remember the good times. The speaker remembers this person’s smile and how they liked to listen to how “you talk.” They also appreciated this person’s style. All of this pleased the speaker for a while, but this time has passed.

The lines here are easy to read and understand, and while they discuss emotion, they don’t read as particularly emotional. This is seen to the clearest in the final line of this stanza when the speaker says, quite flippantly, that these features of the listener pleased the speaker “for a while” but weren’t so pleasing that they feel devoted to this person.

Stanza Two

You were my early love
(…)
That caused me to sing.

Continuing on in the same way, the speaker indicates that the love they shared was an “early love,” as if it was a relationship early on in her life. Love for her at that time was “New as a day breaking in Spring.” It was brilliant, bright, and simple in a way is memorable to this day.

The speaker also indicates that “You were the image / of / Everything / That caused me to sing.” This is a lovely metaphor and also one that fits right into the theme of a strong but fleeting relationship. Spring is beautiful while it’s happening, but before you know it, it’s over.

This person is no longer “Everything” that caused her to spring, but she can look back on their relationship (or on the spring season to continue the metaphor).

Stanza Three

I don’t like reminiscing
(…)
Just for a time.

In the final stanza, the speaker says that (even though they’re doing it now) they don’t usually enjoy reminiscing. They’re not one to spend time engaged in nostalgia, wishing they were reliving the past.

The speaker goes on, remembering how this person, who is described in this stanza as “the perfect girl,” was the speaker’s for “a time / For a time. / Just for a time.” The repetition here indicates that there is still some emotion attached to the relationship, but, at the same time, the speaker has certainly accepted that it’s in the past.

Even though they aren’t overly emotional about the relationship being over, they still like thinking about how lovely this person was. They were “a precious pearl,” and the speaker loved to “see you shine.”