Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.
(Lyric video of poem ''Still I Rise'' being sung)
Analysis
This poem is about not letting discrimination and racism bring you down. The poem consists of 8 stanzas, the first 7 stanzas made up of 4 verses and the last/8th stanza made up of 15 verses. The end rhyme for the first 7 stanzas is ABCB. The end rhyme for the last/8th stanza is: ABABBBCBCBDDBBB. The true/perfect rhymes are: gloom & room (2nd stanza), hard & yard (5th stanza), wide & tide (8th stanza), fear & clear (8th stanza) and gave & slave (8th stanza). The off/slant rhymes are: lies & rise (1st stanza), tides & rise (3rd stanza), eyes & cries (4th stanza), eyes & rise (6th stanza), surprise & thighs (7th stanza), shame & pain (8th stanza) and rise & wide, tide (8th stanza). Rise & tide, wide uses assonance. There is also an internal rhyme in the verse ''Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.'' with welling and swelling being true/perfect rhymes. There are a lot of rhetorical questions in this poem, there are 7 rhetorical questions in 4/half of the total stanzas. An example of one of the rhetorical questions is ''Does my sassiness upset you?'' (2nd stanza).
There is also a lot of use of repetition for the verse ''I rise'' and less often it's also rephrased to ''I'll rise'' which is also repeated but not as frequently. ''I rise'' is repeated 7 times in the 8th stanza and ''I'll rise'' is repeated 3 times in the 1st, 3rd & 6th stanza. There is a lot of use of analogy in this poem and some example of that are ''But still, like dust, I'll rise'' (1st stanza) and '''Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.'' (2nd stanza). There are also similes with one example being ''Shoulders falling down like teardrops'' (4th stanza). Ambiguity is also used and an example of that is ''I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide'' (8th stanza). This poem is a confessional because it looks like it's written from personal experiences/memories. The point of view is 1st person. The title ''Still I Rise'' is an intriguing title as it doesn't make it completely obvious what the poem is about but makes the reader wonder.