Maya Angelou was an American poet born in 1928, at a time when the African American people were going through the worst forms of oppression, inequality, discrimination, slavery and racism. This poem, Still I Rise, was a wake up call, not just for her, for but for the society to stand up against oppression and to their oppressors. The poem awakens the internal strength and the resilient spirit to stand against the oppressors. The structure of the poem indicates that it’s being addressed towards a certain audience, which could range from her racist society who tries to bring her down as a black woman to oppressors who caused oppression to African American people. The tone varies from the different stanzas, but it portrays anger, pain, defiance and hope for a better tomorrow.
The pain was caused by the racist society who tried to put her down as a black woman, the society that denied her of her worth and dignity. The pain that the African American people endured during the slavery, the injustice and prejudice against them. The Poet also portrays strong defiance and self-confidence against her oppressors and is hopeful for a better tomorrow as she wills against the storm to overcome her struggles as a black woman. It was time for her and the society around her, especially the African American people to rise above the society and hope for a better future.
This poem, Still I Rise, is an empowering poem of hope, to overcome the struggles and hatred that she endured as a woman and those caused directly by the oppressors. This poem portrays themes such as; politics, history and struggles of the African-American people, oppression, individual rights, peaceful protests and slavery. To a greater extent, these are the very reasons that inspired the poet to write this poem. This poem was a tool of communication, to act as a reminder to those in power of their oppression to the African American people and to the oppressed, that there was hope for a better tomorrow.
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Through the poem, the Poet tries to send a message to their oppressors that they too have a voice, and that it’s through the works of art such as poems and music that they can be heard. In the first stanza, “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.” This can be interpreted to have two different meanings.
First, she talks about her personal nature, that no matter what, she’ll still rise up in the end to overcome whatever is thrown to her. She doesn’t give much attention to what history says, because they are all “twisted lies”. The second meaning refers to the African American people in general. That no matter what history says about them, no matter the hardships they go through, no matter the “dirt”, they will eventually rise up as the dust does. In the second stanza, “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.”
The use of questions in the second stanza brings out her “sassiness” character and tone. Here, she questions her society, why they are upset when she succeeds in life. Her success is portrayed by the “oil wells pumping in her living room.” It can still be inferred that she questions her oppressors by upsetting them by being so lively. In the third stanza, she insinuates that just like the sun and the moon are affected by the tides, she too, still comes out triumphant. In the fourth stanza, her questions are rather direct and straightforward. Did you want to see me broken? / Bowed head and lowered eyes? /Shoulders falling down like teardrops, / Weakened by my soulful cries” She asks the society if they wanted to see her broken, oppressed, depressed and bitter, instead of being that Black woman who succeeded from an oppressed society.
The questions are still seen in stanza five as she directs them to a racist society who resent seeing a black woman full of pride and success. The use of sarcasm, “don’t you take it awful hard” shows how unforgivably she is to the racist society that resents her success and pride. In the sixth stanza, the Poet claims that no matter what the society does to her, no matter how hateful they are, she will still rise up “like air” amidst the hatred. This still can be inferred to mean that no matter what the oppressors do, the oppressed will still come out triumphant in the end.
Their oppression, racism and injustice will not kill their hope for a better tomorrow. In the seventh stanza, the Poet shows how confident she is of her worth as a woman in a very oppressed and a racist society. She speaks confidently of how great her body is and her sexiness, she says “That I dance like I’ve got diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs?” At this point, her confidence overshadows her struggles and oppression in the society.
In the last two stanzas, she clearly speaks about the history of African American people during their struggles as slaves and how shameful it was. She claims that even though it was hurting and painful, “Out of history’s shame / I rise / Up from a past that’s rooted in pain / I rise”, she will not be held down by the past, instead she intends to rise above her history, her pain and her oppression. The Poet further states that by leaving behind the terror and fear, she represents what her “ancestors” had dreamed of. She is the hope they had hoped for and she is a dream come true for the oppressed.
