Still I RIse

Powered by Podbean.com

Still I Rise

---Maya Angelou



You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.



Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.



Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.



Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.



Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin' in my own back yard.



You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I'll rise.



Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?



Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise

Up from a past that's rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise


I am going to analysis and discus about Maya Angelou poem called 'Still I Rise”. The poem was published in 1978. This poem shows extremely a lot emotions and feelings by the black author. When you read it a number of things will appear to you without even noticing. She shows that the sexuality that women have over men and having very big power and advantage. How women are deeply connected to nature. If you think about it, it does make perfect sense since we refer to it as Mother Nature. How women are one of the key elements for life, without them nothing would be alive. She also says that reproduction is another source of power. She talks about the living room, since the living room is the room where the family sit together I would say she means this is where the family is strong and can never get hurt. Freedom is another idea you take from this poem. Being black and living in a time where black and white people were not considered equal you can understand the anger she has while she wrote this poem. You can say that every letter in this poem has a different important meaning for life. By reading it you can see the pride that Ms. Angelou has for her background. I could imagine that if you would read this poem everyday for two weeks you get a new meaning from it. For instance now when I read it to myself apart from the fact of talking about racism and slavery I could imagine it goes for everyone in the world to rise for something that they believe in, and fight and defend yourself against the worlds evil. That's why it would say I Rise, I Rise, I Rise at the end. In the text and the way she writes you can tell that she is a feminist and has very strong opinions on women's rights being black or white. You see that when she talks about diamonds. But most of all the poem discusses about having freedom and a home to go to.
I am sure this poem will always be taken as a example to any group of people about fighting for something that you truly believe in.