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Still I Rise by Maya

Angelou
‘Still I Rise’ is an inspiring and emotional poem that’s based around
Maya Angelou’s experiences as a Black woman in America. It
encourages readers to love themselves fully and persevere in the
face of every hardship.

Maya Angelou, born in 1928, lived through some of the worst

oppression and inequality for African American people. Although
slavery had been long abolished, Angelou saw its effects on society
and the African American people. ‘Still I Rise’ is her declaration that
she, for one, would not allow the hatefulness of society to determine
her own success.

The poem, ‘Still I Rise,’ is not only a proclamation of her own

determination to rise above society but was also a call to others to
live above the society in which they were brought up.

Explore Still I Rise

 1 Summary
 2 Meaning
 3 Structure and Form
 4 Tone and Mood
 5 Poetic Techniques and Figurative Language
 6 Themes
 7 Imagery
 8 Symbolism
 9 Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
 10 Historical Context
 11 FAQs
 12 Similar Poetry

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Summary
‘Still I Rise‘ by Maya Angelou is an inspiring and moving poem that
celebrates self-love and self-acceptance.

The poem takes the reader through a series of statements

the speaker makes about herself. She praises her strength, her
body, and her ability to rise up and away from her personal and
historical past. There is nothing, the speaker declares, that can hold
her back. She is going to “rise” above and beyond anything that
seeks to control her.

‘Still I Rise’ can be read in full here or watch Maya Angelou recite
the poem below.

Meaning
The title of the poem, ‘Still I Rise’ is a proclamation against the
society that tries to dominate the speaker’s voice. The speaker or
the poetic persona represents the poet’s voice. She represents the
black community as a whole.

Through this poem, she tries to break through the shackles of

domination and raises her voice to say that she and her people are
no longer mute. They have got the voice to proclaim their rights. No
matter how hard they try, she will prove to them the abilities of
black people.
The phrase, “I rise” is not about a singular uprising. It’s a collective
revolutionary voice that consists of the raging uproar of a class,
oppressed and betrayed for a long time.

Structure and Form

‘Still I Rise’ is a nine stanza poem that’s separated into uneven sets
of lines. The first seven stanzas contain four lines, known
as quatrains, stanzas eight has six lines and the ninth has nine. The
first seven stanzas follow a rhyme scheme of ABCB, the eighth:
ABABCC, and the ninth: ABABCCBBB.

Tone and Mood

Within ‘Still I Rise’ Angelou takes a strong and
determined tone throughout her writing. By addressing her’s, and all
marginalized communities’ strengths, pasts, and futures head-on,
she’s able to create a very similar mood. A reader should walk away
from ‘Still Rise’ feeling inspired, joyful, and reinvigorated with
courage and strength.

Poetic Techniques and Figurative

Language
Angelou makes use of several poetic techniques and different kinds
of figurative language in ‘Still I Rise’. These
include anaphora, alliteration, enjambment, and similes. The first,
anaphora, is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of
multiple lines, usually in succession. In this piece, a reader should
look to stanza six for an example. Here, Angelou uses the phrase
“You may” at the start of lines one through three.

Alliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at least

appear close together, and begin with the same letter. For example,
” huts of history” in line one of the eighth stanza and “gifts” and
“gave” in stanza nine.

Another important technique commonly used in poetry is

enjambment. It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural
stopping point. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next line,
and the next, quickly. One has to move forward to comfortably
resolve a phrase or sentence. For example, the transition between
lines two and three of the first stanza and two and three of the
second stanza.

A simile is a comparison between two unlike things that uses the

words “like” or “as”. A poet uses this kind of figurative language to
say that one thing is similar to another, not like metaphor, that it
“is” another. In the third stanza of ‘Still I Rise’ with the line “Just like
hopes springing high” or in lines three and four of the fifth stanza:
“’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines / Diggin’ in my own
backyard”.

Themes
The major poetic themes of this work are self-empowerment,
perseverance, and injustice. Throughout the text, the speaker, who
is commonly considered to be Angelou herself, addresses her own
oppressor. The “you” she refers to represents the varieties of
injustices that people of color, women, and all marginalized
communities have dealt with as long as history has been recorded.

She throws a prior self-derogatory way of thinking to the side and

addresses herself lovingly and proudly. The poet seeks to empower
herself, as well as all those who have doubted their abilities,
strength, beauty, intelligence, or worth. This is seen through lines
like “You may trod me in the very dirt / But still, like dust, I’ll rise”.

Imagery
This poem is filled with vivid imagery. To begin with, there is visual
imagery in the very beginning. Through this line, “But still, like dust,
I’ll rise.” So, here the image of “dust” helps the speaker to make her
point. According to her, none can control the dust when the
revolutionary wind arrives. Likewise, she will rise like dust particles
and blind those who trod her before.

The following stanzas contain some more images. For example,

readers can find the image of oil wells pumping oil. The third stanza
has images of the moon, sun, and tides. In this stanza, she depicts
the tides that are springing high. It is compared to “hope”.

There is an image of a black individual who is in extreme distress.

This image represents how they were tortured and made silent by
the unlawful fist. Angelou uses the images of “gold mines” and
“diamonds” to heighten the irony of this piece. Lastly, the “black
ocean” unfolds how powerful the speaker and her people are. Their
greatness is like that of the immensity of the ocean.

Symbolism
Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’ is a symbolic poem. It contains
several symbols that refer to different ideas. For example, in the
first stanza, the poet uses the “dirt” as a symbol. It represents how
the black community was treated in history.

In the following stanzas, there are several symbolic references.

These are “oil wells”, “gold mines” and “diamonds”. They
collectively refer to the resourcefulness of the speaker. Those
symbols do not deal with anything materialistic, rather they hint at
her intellectual wealth.

In the fourth stanza, the moon and sun represent the speaker
herself. While the upward movement of tides symbolizes how hope
springs in her heart concerning the future. Besides, some phrases
deal with the concept of slavery in this line, “Bowed head and
lowered eyes.”

There is an important symbol of the “black ocean” in the eighth

stanza. This ocean represents the black people. The speaker says,
“I’m a black ocean”. Here, it acts as a symbol of energy and
immensity. The last stanza contains another symbol in the usage of
the word “night”. It is a symbol of fear, oppression, and pessimism.
Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
Stanza One
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.
In this stanza, Maya Angelou gives her heart and soul to declare that
nothing and no one could oppress her or keep her down. She
doesn’t care what the history books saw, for she knows they are full
of “twisted lies.” She will not let it bother her that others “trod” her
“in the very dirt.” She proclaims that if she is trodden in the dirt, she
will rise like dust.

Stanza Two
Does my sassiness upset you?
(…)
Pumping in my living room.
In the second stanza, she asks a question. This is an interesting
question, as she refers to her own tone as “sassiness” and asks the
hearer if her sassy tone is upsetting. The poet notices that the
people around her in her society are “beset with gloom” when she
succeeds. She questions this. She knows that she is succeeded in
life, in her writing, and as a woman. The “oil wells pumping in [her]
living room” symbolize her success.
Stanza Three
Just like moons and like suns,
(…)
Still I’ll rise.
In this stanza, she compares herself to the moon and the sun as
they are affected by the tides. This gives the reader the
understanding that the speaker has no other choice but to rise out
of her affliction. Try as a society might keep her oppressed, it is in
her nature to rise and stand against oppression just as it is the
nature of the tides to respond to the moon.

Stanza Four
Did you want to see me broken?
(…)
Weakened by my soulful cries.
The speaker’s questions in this stanza are direct, pertinent, and
appropriately accusing. She knows that her own success is received
with bitterness by the racist people in her society. So she directs
these questions at a society that has long tried to keep her
oppressed. She asks them if they want to see her broken,
oppressed, depressed, and bitter.

She asks these questions know that this indeed is what many in
society wanted. They did not want to see a black woman rise out of
the oppression of her society and succeed. The speaker knows this
and she draws attention to it with these revealing, yet cutting
questions.

Stanza Five
Does my haughtiness offend you?
(…)
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
She continues with the questions directed at a racist society when
she asks whether her “haughtiness” is offensive. She knows that
society resents seeing a black woman full of pride. This question has
an air of sarcasm which serves to point out the hypocrisy of society
as it is embittered by the success of one that it has tried to oppress.
The speaker continues in a sarcastic tone as she pretends to
comfort the hearer.

The poet says, “don’t you take it awful hard.” This is her sarcastic
way of pretending to care for those who resent her success. She
continues, however, to in a sense “flaunt” her success before the
society that has always oppressed her. She claims that she has
“gold mines” and that she laughs at the success she has found.

Stanza Six
You may shoot me with your words,
(…)
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
In this stanza, she lets society know that no matter what it does to
oppress her, it will not succeed. The poet lets society know that it
cannot prevail against her with words or looks. She proclaims that
society cannot prevail against her even if it managed to have her
killed because of its hatefulness. She claims that she will still “like
air” rise.

Stanza Seven
Does my sexiness upset you?
(…)
At the meeting of my thighs?

The speaker continues her questioning of society. By this time in the

poem, it becomes apparent that the speaker has placed society on
trial and is now in the process of cross-examination. She knows the
answers to these questions, but to ask them is to incriminate the
offender. While she asks incriminating questions, she simultaneously
reveals incredible self-confidence despite the oppression of society.

Stanza Eight
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
(…)
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
In this stanza, the speaker finally refers to the past- the reason that
she is oppressed and resented to this day. She calls slavery
“history’s shame” and she proclaims that she will not be held down
by the past, even if it is “rooted in pain.”

Stanza Nine
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.
In the final stanza, the speaker reveals that she intends to leave
behind all the effects of slavery and the history of oppression with
the intent to rise above it. She claims that she will leave behind the
“terror and fear” and that she will rise above the pain and the
oppression “Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear.”

The speaker does not intend to allow the hatefulness of society or

the pain of the past to stop her from becoming all that she ever
dreamed of being. For this reason, she repeats three times, “I rise.”

Historical Context
The poem, ‘Still I Rise’ was published in Maya Angelou’s
poetry collection, “And Still I Rise” in 1978. It is the collection’s title
poem. This poem appears in the third part of the book. Angelou
wrote a play in 1976 by the same title and the work also touches on
similar themes such as courage, injustice, and spirit of the Black
people. This poem appeared in an advertising campaign for the 50th
anniversary of the United Negro College Fund in 1994.

In an interview in 1997, Angelou stated that she used the poem to

sustain herself in hard times. According to her, not only the black
but also the white used it similarly. This inspirational poem has
some references that make readers look back at history. It reminds
how black people were treated in the past. The speaker is one of
them. She firmly speaks against the injustices against them and
says no matter how much society tries to throttle her voice, she will
rise like the phoenix.

FAQs
What type of poem is ‘Still I Rise’?
Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’ is told from the perspective of a first-
person speaker. So, it’s a lyric poem.

What inspired Maya Angelou to write ‘Still I Rise’?

Maya Angelou wrote this poem inspired by the struggle of the black
people. Her speaker represents the community and expresses their
courage to fight back the odds of time as well as the society.

Who is Maya Angelou talking to in ‘Still I Rise’?

In this poem, Angelou’s speaker talks with the racist people. She
refers to them as “you” and straightforwardly begins this poem. This
“you” can also be a reference to those who try to subjugate others
for their benefit.
What does ‘Still I Rise’ say about the African American
spirit?
The speaker of this piece represents the African American spirit. In
this poem, Angelou makes it clear it does not matter how hard the
discriminating minds try, the voice of her community can never be
muted.

What message does ‘Still I Rise’ convey to the readers?

This poem communicates an important message to readers. It tells
readers that remaining hopeful about one’s abilities and trusting in
the inherent qualities are the best weapons to fight against racial
discrimination, inequality, and injustice.

What is “history’s shame” a metaphor for?

The phrase, “history’s shame” is a metaphor for slavery and racial
discrimination.

How does ‘Still I Rise’ show identity?

Angelou’s poem presents a speaker who takes pride in her identity.
She is courageous enough to talk about her body and her inherent
qualities. Besides, she is an embodiment of the indomitable courage
of the black people.

Similar Poetry
Maya Angelou is best known for her empowering poems that seek to
celebrate the female body and mind, specifically dedicated to Black
women. The following poems are similar to Maya Angelou’s
poem, ‘Still I Rise’.
  ‘Phenomenal Woman‘ by Maya Angelou – This poem defies the
stereotypes that women often face in today’s world. It is filled
with strength and determination.
 ‘Woman Work‘ by Maya Angelou – This poem celebrates the
strength of women. It uses natural imagery to speak on this
theme and various others.
 ‘Power‘ by Audre Lorde – Audre Lorde, one of the best-known
20th-century American poets, describes a real-life murder of a
ten-year-old black boy and the court case concerning the killing
in this poem. Explore more Audre Lorde poems.
 ‘Primer for Blacks‘ by Gwendolyn Brooks – This piece by
Gwendolyn Brooks, one of the well-known African-American
poets, speaks on the necessity of accepting one’s black
identity and the future that will result from that acceptance.
Read more Gwendolyn Brooks poems.
You can also read about the best poetry of African-American
poets and these inspirational poems about hope.

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Biography of Maya Angelou

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Home » Maya Angelou » Still I Rise

About Allisa Corfman

Allisa graduated with a degree in Secondary Education and English
and taught World Literature and Composition at the high school
level. She has always enjoyed writing, reading, and analysing
literature.

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