Still I Rise
By: Maya Angelo
Still I Rise
You can say whatever you want by trying to bring me down with your hurtful words but I still will overcome
Does the way I carry myself affect you in some way? Am I a threat to you because I walk with such dignity and pride?
She compares herself to the sun, moon, and tides, because they all rise as she does
Is it in your interest to see her down looking pitiful like she's just falling apart?
Although. you may say your hurtful comments, and look at me funny out of hatefulness she'll still rise
Are you offended because she's unique and are you surprised that she's wanted like a jewel
It goes back to her ancestry in slavery and how they weren't supposed to be wanted. She rose above the hurtful history of slavery. She is making a comparison of the tides in the ocean and how powerful they are, and she's showing what she can possibly do.
She's leaving all fear behind her and overcoming it, when the day breaks its supposed o be a new day in the new day it would be much better and still she;;s rise. All the wisdom ad knowledge of my ancestors are being shown through me. I am the by-product of hat they prayed and hoped for, and I continued to rise.
Situation:
Structure:
The structure of how Still I Rise is in traditional form. I think her purpose of writing it this way to make it sound better and she simply just wanted to have a little rhyme.
Language:
Musical Device:
What the poem has done for me:
About The Author:
Entire Poem of STILL I IRISE
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.
Work cited:
Maya Angelo. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.