Still I Rise – Maya Angelou
The poem ‘Still I Rise’ is about how the author Maya Angelou is unaffected and rising above all the hate and oppression that was thrown at her. It is about how her hope and self-belief helped her to excel. “You may trod me in the dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.” This quote refers back to the terrible way she was treated by her oppressors, but how she overcame that and became the bigger person.
I think Maya Angelou wrote this poem to prove that if she can overcome and succeed so greatly after all that had happened to her and her ancestors we can overcome tough things and our lives as they will most likely not be as tough as she had.
I think the reason Maya Angelou repeated “I rise” five times is because she is emphasizing that no matter what the oppressors do or say she will overcome their horrible racial acts and rise and keep rising above them. I believe she said ‘I rise’ five times to also emphasizes the fact that she was silent for five years
“Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard” This simile in stanza 5 refers to her wealth as obviously she would not have gold mines in her back yard but she has so much money it’s like she does. In America when they went through a stage of intense gold mining most of the people working were very discriminated against just like Maya Angelou was. The verb laugh is very significant in this poem because it is a very hopeful verb and reminds us she is rising above all of the discrimination. The word ‘Diggin’ is associated with the African American culture which implies that she is proud to be an African American even though she is continually receiving hate.
“But still, like air, I’ll rise” This simile in stanza 6 is reminding us as the reader that Maya Angelou is unaffected and rising above all the hate and oppression that was thrown at her. That her hope and self-belief helped her to excel. The lightness of ‘air’ in the final line of the 6th stanza contrasts with the ferocity in the previous lines when words like ‘shoot,’ ‘kill,’ and ‘cut’ were used.
“Shoulders falling down like teardrops” This metaphor in stanza 4 refers back to the slavery in America. When black people were slaves if they saw a white person they would have to walk past them with a ‘bowed head and lowered eyes.’ By including history into the poem we are forced to reflect on all of the terrible things done to African Americans. She is also asking us as the reader if we expected to see her shoulders slumped over like her ancestors were forced to do.
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