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Still i rise by Maya Angelou

The poem STILL I RISE was written by Maya Angelou who is African American woman and she was living the segregation between Americans African people. Her life was never easy. From the time she was born, Maya Angelou was subjected to racism, rape, grief. It is important to read Angelou’s biography because it can help us to understand her poetry.
Angelou is open and honest about her emotions and easily passes these feelings and thoughts to her readers.
Her poem, Still I Rise, invites sureness and pride for being African American. It is a total outcry to prejudices, humiliation, and treatment. It is parallel between slavery, racism and the drug war .The theme of this poem is the irrefutable power and the spirit of the African American people, from the past and present.
In her poem ,she uses several literary devices throughout the poem. Some of the most obvious are metaphor and repetition. The personification that is seen in this poem, is when refering to ....''I''... which represents the black women.
The language is easy to understand. It doesn’t have any rhythm, however it does use metaphoric language throughout the poem for example Cause I walk like I’ve got oil well ,''pumping in my living room ''...,and .....''did you want to see me broken''.... . “Still I Rise” is a poem written in free strophe with four lines stanzas. The phrase ''Still I Rise'', and ''I rise''
are used repeatedly through out the poem. Maybe One reason blacks should rise above their oppression is so they can better themselves and in turn make a better life for their next generation.

STILL A RISE by Maya Angelou

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