Still I Rise

“Still I Rise” Poem Analysis “Still I Rise” was written by Maya Angelou, who is an African-American poet. A majority of her poems are written on slavery and life as a African- American woman. “Still I Rise” is one of the many well known. She discusses how she is treated differently and refers to her ancestry and relates to events they went through during the time of slavery and the events she continues to go through during her time period of life. “This poem has been an inspiration to people from all different walks of life.” “Still I Rise” is an amazing poem that not only speaks of the troubles of slavery and Maya's struggles in life but I think this poem is also a victory call a banner of hope and encouragement to all those that have faced trails and tribulations in their lives. “Still I Rise” has many different meanings to many different people but one common message stands tall and that is no matter what struggle you face in life you have the ability to rise above it. Maya's poem reflects a lot on human nature and the inner strength we all have to fight back against whatever life throws at us”(elite skills). A majority of the people who have read “Still I Rise” seem to all come to the same conclusion as to what Maya Angelou’s point is that she is trying to make to her readers. She tells her readers that they need to have courage to stand up and not let other people push you around or break your spirit based off their judgments and criticism they may express openly. Maya Angelou experienced the time of Martin Luther King Jr.. When African-Americans could not drink from the same water fountain as the whites, they could not attend the same schools as the whites, they could not go to the same stores, restaurants, churches, public gatherings, or even sit in the same section as the whites. “Maya Angelou delivered her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at William Jefferson Clintons inauguration as president of the United States of America in 1993.” (Maya Angelou A

Cited: Angelou, Maya. Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now. Random House 1993 Rampersad, Arnold and Hilary Herbold, eds. The Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry. Oxford University Press 2006 “Still I Rise Analysis Maya Angelou” elite skills.com. 2009. 10 February 2011. http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/Still_I_Rise_by_Maya_Angelou_analysis.php “Still I Rise” You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may trod me in the very dirtBut 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 wellsPumping 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 minesDiggin ' 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 surpriseThat I dance like I 've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?Out of the huts of history 's shameI riseUp from a past that 's rooted in painI riseI 'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that 's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise. Maya Angelou