Poetry Still I Rise Poem Summary & Analysis by Maya Angelou
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Introduction
Still I Rise is a widely loved poem written by the American poet Maya Angelou. It is from her book And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems. The poem reminds us of the African-American tradition of powerful songs written in the face of racial discrimination and further suffering of the black community in America.
In this poem, Maya Angelou expresses her extraordinary self-esteem and black pride which helps, all who are like her, rise above any kind of injustice and trials. The poem is a universal message about the resilience of the human spirit.
The poem has 43 lines which are divided into 9 stanzas. The first 7 stanzas are quatrains because they are made up of four lines each. The rhyme scheme is not consistent. The five quatrains in the poem rhyme in the scheme of ABCB while the other two quatrains scheme is 'ABCC'. The poem ends in a sermon tone repeating 'I rise' three times.
Summary
Stanza 1
The poem begins with a direct address to the ones who are trying to write her down in history. Oppressors try to change the facts of history with their bitter, twisted lies. The poet is firm in her courage that even if she is put down to the level of dirt, she will rise from it like dust rises.
Stanza 2
It emphasizes the surprise in the hearts of oppressors who still see the boldness in their victims. The poet is taunting them because of why her liveliness should turn them gloomy.
In characteristic humour of Maya Angelou, it says that even in her impoverishment, she walks with all glory of self-pride. In America, the businessmen of the Oil Industry are among the richest, and the pride of the speaker in the poem is not anyway lesser than that of them.
Stanza 3
There is a firmness in the poet's conviction in her capacity to rise. Moons and Suns are eternal facts of the universe that never change. Their presence creates tides on the earth which is more than certain. Human hopes are always high. The poet will keep rising just like these certain facts which can never be stopped.
Stanza 4
The enemy wants to see her broken, the poet is questioning this. It is a universal reminder of American Slavery which reduced Black people to submission. They want to see her walking with a bowed head and not be able to see them in their eyes. The poet compares the fallen shoulders of the victim to teardrops. The narrator here won't give in to the weakness that the victims express in their soulful cries.
Stanza 5
Again, the poet questions whether her proud behaviours offend her oppressors. She will not change her manner anyway. In a previous stanza about oil fields, where she brings up the example of the riches of gold mines. She laughs, unlike her condition which is poor according to her enemies. She laughs with such a rich pride like her backyard has goldmines in it.
Stanza 6
The poet describes how her enemies try to destroy her. They use mean words against her which is like shooting her. They look at her in such a way that it feels like cutting her. Her enemies are full of hatred. Yet, she remains untouchable and rises like air which no one can stop.
Stanza 7
The narrator is conscious of her own beauty. In the eyes of her oppressors, she has no human qualities so seeing her desirability upsets them. She is directly addressing you which is surprised at the dance of the victim. Pointing at the treasure of her body, she uses the image of a diamond to describe her womanliness.
Stanza 8
The poet has lived a life which is supposedly shameful. Such incidents are the huts of history's shame. Her past is full of pain. She rises up above all this. She compares herself to a black ocean.
Oceans are blue but here it is black consciousness which is expressed through the metaphor. She can leap across anything. Her personality is like water which can enter any shape while welling and swelling. She bears through everything in life which is compared to the tide here.
Stanza 9
The final stanza is a compelling concluding message. It speaks of Afro -American people and their history of suffering. Their nights of terror and fear. The narrator says that she will still rise above all that. The night is gone, and the day is breaking out.
The light of hope is now clear. She is proud of her ancestry so she celebrates its gift. Her ancestors were brought into the continent as slaves but they never stopped their fight. She is the dream and the hope of the slave and she keeps rising.
Analysis
Maya Angelou was an American poet (1928-2014) known largely for her autobiographical works which express the trauma of Black lives in her country and their strength for liberation and survival.
The poem 'Still I Rise' is a phenomenal poem read widely for its poignant and powerful narration.
Angelou said, 'All my work, my life, everything I do is about survival, not just bare, awful, plodding survival, but survival with grace and faith. While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated.' This poem is a true representative of this firm confidence to live no matter what.
'Still I Rise' is a poem from the third volume of poetry 'And Still I Rise' which she published in 1978. In an easily approachable manner, which is a characteristic of all popular poems, this poem out-rightly speaks of the unknowable strength of the human spirit which can rise against everything.
Angelou also wrote a play of the same name. The poem speaks of the spirit of Black people in particular but by the end, we know it is the undefeatable spirit of whole humanity that fights against limitless crimes and injustice.
In the United States, white people have always exploited people of other races especially Black people who were the result of the slave trade and immigration. Due to rampant discrimination, Black people suffered immensely.
Maya Angelou's own life went through critical phases but her steadfastness helped her to go through everything and triumph in the end as a great icon for the indomitable Black spirit. This poem is like a final banner of victory of Black lives.
The poem begins with the fact that the White oppressors are also the one who writes the history of their country. The rhyming scheme with which it begins deliberately defies every technique.
Afro-Americans have a tradition of singing spirituals. It is a religious song that fills one with hope. Here the poem does the same but in a secular way. The repetition of "Still I Rise" at the end of every stanza gives us a persistent sense of self which is in the poet.
Harold Bloom names this African-American paradigm of rising through and above experience as "American Religion." If it is so then "Still I Rise" is a mantra of that religion.
The poem expresses the pride of Black beauty. Black people are largely known for their fashion statement which is always bold and aggressive. It was a part of the defence mechanism. So, the poet asks her enemies, "Does my sassiness upset you?", "Does my haughtiness offend you?"
Black American writers who expressed their sense of awareness and confidence in the face of unbearable exploitations, have referred to "the little me within the big me."
It means that no matter what this world does to us from outside, the little part inside us which is beyond such injustice remains unaffected and one must always refer to that in order to rise above trials.
That's when even if the oppressor "trod me in the very dirt" or "shoot me with words" or "cut me with eyes" or "kill me with your hatefulness", the poet says, "I will rise."
The poem uses concrete imageries to render emotional experience but it remains a woman's voice that comes from a "women-centered memory." It challenges the common enemy which is White but also the enemy in general which is male-centered.
The poem finally ends with a hope that the nights of terror and fear are over. The history which Angelou was referring to started growing better.
A hope for "wondrously clear daybreak" has pervaded the poet who is equally proud of her ancestry & present and she is determined to rise.
