Still I rise- Poetry analysis

Marguerite Ann Johnson, also known as Maya Angelou, was born in 1928 where people were discriminated because of their colour, their nationality and their gender! Her poem "Still I Rise" was written as a way of expressing her feelings towards racism, by using many similes, metaphors, themes and symbolism.
Maya starts her poem in an angry tone using metaphors:"bitter, twisted lies" to offend the white people. But she ends her first stanza, like the rest of her stanzas, in a positive way by saying that she will still rise in life although people may criticize her or treat her badly.
She shows how confident she is by saying that she is sassy, sexy and has haughtiness in the stanzas 2, 5, 7. She also shows her confidence in a different way, using allusion and symbolism."Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tide", shows the allusion. The sun and moon, which mean the cycle of the day, symbolise a woman's menstrual cycle. This allusion shows that not only she is confident but she is also a feminist because the menstrual cycle symbolises a woman's fertility and she is proud of that.
This idea is repeated in the seventh stanza where she says :"I've got diamonds at the meeting of my thighs". The diamonds symbolise something very precious and the fact that it is between her thighs shows that her womanhood is precious. This repeated idea emphasises what a feminist she is.
Repetition is use a lot in this poem. The phrase "I'll rise" is repeats in almost all the stanzas. This particular phrase is repeated not only because it is a part of the title but also to emphasise her pride. She is proud to be a woman and black, Racism and discrimination will not put her down.
There is a repetition of another idea. The use of similes is to compare herself with the rich white people. In the second stanza she says: "Cause I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room". The oil wells symbolise money and wealthy people and the living room symbolises a family and sophistication. She may not be rich or have a family but she acts like she does because she is happy. In a way she mocks the rich white people with that simile because they believe that only money can bring them happiness. This idea is repeated in the fifth stanza where she says: "Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines diggin' in my own back yard".
"Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave"; this is the last stanza of the poem and with her words I believe that she shows that she is proud of how she was raised. The gifts that that her ancestors gave are everything she was taught by her parents and by calling them gifts shows that she is grateful. In the very last sentence, although she uses the first person, I believe that she represents all black women with her words because in that way she shows her feminism.

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