Still I Rise

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.

Maya Angelou

In the poem 'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou, the blacks are described as the inferior race. They are always being discriminated by the whites. The poet states that he will be able to achieve his dream of achieving full freedom and being set free from slavery. He is the hope of his race who will reliaze this dream given by his ancestors. The poet uses simile such as "like moons and like suns" to express that his hope to rise up is as high as the moons and the suns in the sky. He would never give up to strive for the success of helping his race to achieve a high social status in the society. He also emphasizes that the historical fact about his race being slaves would not last forever because he represents his race, the blacks convinces us that they will continue to fight for their rights to achieve their dreams that is to obtain a better social life. "I'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 rise" potrays that he will perservere and determined to overcome all kinds of oppression and difficulties in order to realize his dream.