NON-AFRICAN POETRY
‘STILL I RISE’ BY MAYA ANGELOU
BACKGROUND OF THE POET
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) lived an extremely varied life as a performer, activist, educator, and writer.
After growing up in different parts of the American South, Angelou spent the first decades of her adult
life moving between the East and West Coasts. Initially, she pursued a successful career as a singer and
dancer. Then, at the close of the 1950s, she turned her efforts to civil rights activism. In the mid-1960s,
after a brief stint abroad in West Africa, her friend James Baldwin encouraged her to write her first
book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). To this day, Caged Bird remains Angelou’s most famous
work. There, she details how her love of language blossomed in the traumatic aftermath of sexual
violence she suffered at the age of seven. In the following decades, Angelou went on to reinvent herself
as a film actor and university professor. Even so, her love of language never left her. For the rest of her
life, she remained a prolific writer of memoirs, essays, plays, and, above all, poetry. She received many
honors for her lifetime achievement as a public figure, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
presented to her in 2010 by President Barack Obama.
STRUCTURE OF THE POEM
“Still I Rise” is the banner poem in Maya Angelou’s third collection of poetry, titled And Still I Rise (1978).
The 43-line poem features a Black female speaker, who addresses an unspecified “you” with a
defiantly confrontational tone. Although this “you” could be understood as the reader, it more likely
addresses the patriarchal and racist American society of the mid to late twentieth century. Throughout
the poem’s first seven stanzas, the speaker confronts “you” with a series of declarations and rhetorical
questions. The speaker’s address at once acknowledges and rejects a range of limiting expectations
American society places on Black women. In the final two stanzas, the speaker shifts her focus from
“you” to her own sense of self-expansion and self-liberation. As she makes this shift, she disrupts the
structure of her previous stanza form. Whereas the first seven stanzas are all quatrains with a strict ABCB
rhyme scheme, the final stanzas shift to an AABB rhyme scheme. The final stanzas also feature repeated
insertions of the defiant and celebratory phrase, “I rise.” These insertions break up the traditional
quatrain form, symbolizing the speaker’s attempt to break away from oppressive traditions and
transcend society’s limiting expectations.
PLOT ACCOUNT
The speaker’s angry tone is evidenced at the outset with the use of words such as “bitter” and “twisted.”
While the speaker uses singular personal pronouns in the first person throughout the poem such as
“me,” and “I,” her references to her ancestors imply that she is also speaking on behalf of other black
people. She believes that her people have been depicted dishonestly and cruelly throughout history.
Immediately, the speaker addresses the object of the poem, an unspecified “you.” As the poem
continues, the “you” comes into focus as an oppressor—a singular pronoun that stands in for the larger
history of white oppression of black people. The speaker creates an indelible image of black people
being “trod” in dirt—they are not merely stepped on, but trampled on. They have been repeatedly
dehumanized by others. However, no matter how much the oppressors try to squash or bury the speaker
(and other black people), she will “rise” like dust. She will essentially rise above oppression and defy her
oppressors. The speaker is therefore not only angry, but confident. She is channeling her rage and finding
an empowered way out of it.
In the second stanza, the speaker questions if her “sassiness”—depicting her bold attitude—upsets her
oppressor. However, her tone suggests confidence. She does not seem to care whether this sassiness
upsets him and seems even amused by it, as evidenced by the powerful last line of the stanza.
Furthermore, the use of the word “sassiness” is the first time in the poem that a female speaker is
insinuated, as this word is usually applied to women. The speaker is therefore fighting a battle against
racism and sexism, as she wants to rise above the pain that black women in particular have experienced.
The poem is directed towards those oppressors in society who would tie the speaker to her past and to a
history that has been misrepresented and cannot be relied upon. Her ancestors were depicted unfairly
and dishonestly in history, and she will rise above the cruelty and suffering they experienced.
The speaker is both angry and confident throughout the poem. Initially, she is baffled by the way in
which her oppressors—ostensibly, white people and specifically, white males—do not want her to
succeed or become more than the sum of her history. She notes that her joy seems to make them
miserable, and she questions why that is. At the same time, she taunts these oppressors, acknowledging
the impact of her behaviors and personality and delighting in the fact that she bewilders them with her
power and confidence. The poem as a whole is a declaration of strength and of determination.
The speaker proclaims boldly that whatever her oppressors do to try to hamper her progress or take
away her rights, it will not matter. Nobody will ever take her power away, and she will always rise above
the racism, pain, and sexism to be the powerful woman she knows she is. She will break the negative
cycle of the past.
The speaker then lifts herself up from her ancestors’ past that is “rooted in pain.” This may be a
reference to all the oppression that black people have experienced, from slavery to segregation. She will
sprout new leaves, so to speak, and blossom into a stronger person. Lastly, she declares herself a “black
ocean,” referencing her race and describing herself as a powerful force of nature. “Leaping and wide”
parallels with the dancing image from the previous stanza, as she is again a powerful and free spirit. Just
as an ocean wells and swells, so does the speaker—rising above the pain and “bearing”—or holding up—
in the tide. She refuses to be knocked down by a tidal wave of her oppressors.
She also speaks on behalf of other black people without actually stating that this is what she is doing. By
making references to her ancestors and naming slavery explicitly near the poem's conclusion, she is
addressing the collective experiences of her people and stating that they as a race are more powerful
than their oppressors. Whatever the oppressors do, they cannot stop her people from moving forward in
their lives.
The poet ends her declaration by affirming that no matter what happens, she will continue to rise above
history, hate, and bigotry just like her ancestors dreamed would be possible. She will fulfill their dreams
and hopes for freedom and happiness.
THEMES OF THE POEM
The Resilience of Black Women
The speaker of “Still I Rise” is a Black woman who powerfully expresses her strength and resilience in the
face of an oppressive, racist society. The theme of resilience runs like a thread through all nine of the
poem’s stanzas. In some cases, the resilience she evokes applies to Black Americans in general. For
instance, in the first stanza, the speaker defies attempts on the part of dominant, white society to
misrepresent Black history. Later, in the sixth stanza, she refuses to let racist words, glances, and actions
negatively impact her sense of self-worth. Finally, she ends the poem by situating her contemporary
experience in a longer history of Black resilience in the face of slavery and disenfranchisement (stanzas
8–9). In other cases, however, the speaker’s emphasis on resilience relates to Black American women in
particular. In stanzas 2–5, for instance, she insists on her right to carry herself with a sense of pride,
expressed through an upright posture and a confident stride. Later in the poem, she expresses the sense
of personal empowerment she derives from her sexuality (stanzas 7–8). What unites each of these topics
is a tone of defiance, which the speaker uses to express her own strength and resilience.
Defiance of Oppressive Social Expectations
A major theme of “Still I Rise” is the need to defy oppressive social expectations. This theme emerges
through the speaker’s tone more than her actual words. Consider the opening lines, which initiate the
speaker’s confrontational tone: “You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies” (lines
1–2). Although the words plainly state a misdeed committed by this “you,” it’s the speaker’s use of the
verb “may” that makes these opening lines so powerful. The use of “may” at once extends an invitation
and anticipates a refusal, as if to say: “You can try all you want to harm me, but it won’t work.” Whereas
the speaker’s words clearly the indict the “you” for their wrongdoings, it’s her tone that most clearly
evokes the empowerment she derives from defying this “you.” A similar phenomenon occurs in the
poem’s fourth stanza. There (lines 13–16), the speaker asks a series of rhetorical questions that
simultaneously acknowledge and reject common stereotypes about how Black women should act:
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
The speaker uses rhetorical questions to powerful and ironic effect, implicitly refusing to subscribe to the
oppressive stereotype of Black women as weak and demure. Once again, the sense of defiance emerges
primarily through the speaker’s tone.
The Power of Reclaiming History
At the opening and closing of the poem, the speaker references the importance of reclaiming one’s own
history from the misrepresentations of dominant society. The speaker emphasizes the violence of
misrepresentation in the first stanza when she says, “You may write me down in history / With your
bitter, twisted lies” (lines 1–2). With these lines, the speaker references the adage that history is told by
those who wield the most power. As a member of a marginalized and oppressed group, the speaker
recognizes that the most prevalent version of her own community’s history is full of dehumanizing half-
truths and harmful reductions. It is precisely these half-truths and reductions that dominant society uses
to “trod [the speaker] in the very dirt” (line 3). In the poem’s final two stanzas, however, the speaker
makes explicit references to Black American history in ways that actively recuperate it and use to develop
a clearer sense of self (lines 29–32 and 39–40)
POETIC DEVICES
Repetition
Repetition plays an important role in “Still I Rise.” The speaker repeats the phrase “I rise” many times
throughout the poem, establishing a defiant refrain that underscores her strength and resilience. This
refrain initially appears at the end of the first stanza, when the speaker announces: “But still, like dust, I’ll
rise” (line 4). The phrase appears again at the end of the third and sixth stanzas. Then, in the eighth
stanza, a simplified version of the phrase begins to interrupt the quatrain form (lines 29–34):
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.
The refrain of “I rise” becomes even more prominent in the poem’s final stanza, which concludes with
three iterations of the same phrase: “I rise / I rise / I rise” (lines 41–43). The repetition of this phrase
doesn’t simply emphasize the speaker’s message about resilience. It also sets the overall tone of
defiance in the face of an oppressive society.
Parallelism
Closely related to the speaker’s use of repetition is her use of parallelism. Parallelism is a rhetorical
technique that coordinates separate ideas through the repetition of similar wording or phrasing. The
mere repetition of words and phrases can produce any number of effects. By contrast, parallelism
specifically helps to bring a sense of order and balance to the arrangement of ideas. Such a sense of
order and balance helps demonstrate the relations between ideas, which in turn can have a persuasive
effect. For one example, consider the poem’s third stanza (lines 9–12):
Just like moon and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
This passage creates a parallel structure through the repetition of the phrase “Just like.” This phrase
opens two sequential dependent clauses, establishing a two-part simile that the speaker resolves with
the independent clause in the final line: “Still I rise.” The use of parallel structure in this stanza sets up a
pleasing effect of tension and resolution that helps persuade the reader of the confidence the speaker
has in her own resilience.
Simile and Metaphor
Throughout the poem, the speaker employs simile and metaphor to describe the various ways in which
she will rise above oppression. Recall that a simile (SIH-muh-lee) is a figure of speech that explicitly
compares two unlike things to each other. A metaphor (MEH-tuh-for), by contrast, makes a more implicit
comparison between two unlike things. The opening stanza offers a useful example of how the speaker
makes use of both figures of speech to similar effect (lines 1–4):
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.
In these lines, the speaker addresses the tendency of her oppressive society to misrepresent the history
of her people. At first, she develops a metaphor that implicitly likens the experience of
misrepresentation to being “trod . . . in the very dirt.” However, just as dust floats into the air when you
try to stomp it down, the speaker will rise above the attempt to suppress her or the history of her
people. The speaker makes this point through the more explicit simile that appears in the final line of the
quoted passage: “But still, like dust, I’ll rise.” Comparable metaphors and similes appear throughout the
poem.
Rhetorical Questions
Of all the poetic devices used in the poem, perhaps the most prominent is the rhetorical question. The
speaker asks no fewer than eight rhetorical questions, each of which she addresses to an unspecified
“you.” Generally speaking, rhetorical questions aren’t meant to be answered. Rather, writers use them to
make a point or to create a dramatic effect. In the case of “Still I Rise,” the speaker uses rhetorical
questions to establish her attitude of defiance. She directs her questions toward an oppressive society
that expects Black women to be quiet and submissive. In response to these expectations, she exudes a
defiant sense of irony. Consider these lines (lines 3–16) from the fourth stanza:
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?
In these and other lines throughout the poem, the speaker uses rhetorical questions in a twofold way.
On the one hand, she acknowledges the oppressive expectations her society has of her. On the other
hand, by framing these expectations as rhetorical questions, she implicitly rejects them. What she’s
really saying in these lines is that she isn’t broken, burdened by shame, or overcome by sadness. On the
contrary, she’s whole, confident, and strong.
Tone
The tone of “Still I Rise” is confrontational, defiant, and ultimately celebratory. The poem’s
confrontational tone emerges in the opening lines (lines 1–4), in which the speaker confidently
addresses an unspecified “you”:
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.
These lines indicate that an antagonistic relationship exists between the speaker and the “you” she
addresses. But even as the speaker confronts this “you” for the harm they have done, she also
powerfully defies them. In the final line of the passage quoted here, the speaker claims that, regardless
of what “you” have done to keep her down, she’s strong and resilient enough to rise again and survive.
And not just survive, but thrive. By the poem’s end, after using several rhetorical questions to confront
and defy other types of discrimination perpetrated by this “you,” the speaker turns from critique to
celebration: “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear / I rise / Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear / I
rise” (lines 35–38). These lines describe the speaker’s emergence from a time of trauma into an era of
flourishing. Following her confrontational defiance of harmful social expectations, the speaker celebrates
her own resilience and capacity to thrive in the face of oppression.
