#Maya angelou still i rise quotes full

She believes that her people have been depicted dishonestly and cruelly throughout history. 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 will not be held back by what the oppressors have done to her ancestors. The speaker has every intention of writing each chapter of her life and not letting oppressors write that history for her.

#Maya angelou still i rise quotes full

Their pain and suffering drives her to meet her full potential in life, which they were unable to do themselves. The poet affirms her intention to rise above the past and fulfill the dreams and hopes of her slave ancestors. The daybreak will bring sunshine and hope and clarity. Stanza Nine: The speaker is taking a clear step forward, leaving behind the terrors of the past. She is a “black ocean” of strength, withstanding the tides that would otherwise knock her down.

In this stanza, the speaker appears to calm down and stir up the energy and faith needed to move forward in life, past the pain to which she has been referring throughout the poem. In the previous stanzas, the speaker has been firing questions at her oppressor and essentially putting his behavior on trial. This stanza does not interrogate the oppressor, instead taking a calmer tone that sounds like a prayer or a meditation. Stanza Eight: The meter of the poem shifts in this stanza, as does the way in which it is written. The image of wealth is portrayed again, depicting a free, powerful female who dances as if she had “diamonds” between her thighs. The provocative tone illustrates the speaker as a sensual creature, offering a deeply sexual connotation for the first time in the poem. Stanza Seven: This stanza addresses the speaker’s gender, providing the strongest evidence that she is indeed female. Regardless of any actions the oppressor may take, the speaker still “rises” above it all at the end.

The tone is confrontational and direct, addressing the 'you' repeatedly. They are all metaphors for violent behavior, conveyed through the ways in which a person might look at or speak to another person. Stanza Six: In this stanza, the speaker outlines different actions that her oppressor might take. She is full of joy, as if she had gold mines in her own backyard. The speaker makes a reference to wealth yet again, this time referring to the way in which she laughs. The speaker once again provokes the oppressor ('you') in a sarcastic tone, describing his discontent on seeing her-and fellow black people-defiant and proud of their identities. Stanza Five: The tone of the poem picks up again, as the speaker reverts to a confident and proud attitude. The stanza paints a devastating image of a desperate person, with shoulders hunched and a body weakened from cries that come from a tortured soul. She asks if they would enjoy seeing her as a broken spirit, her head weighed down by sadness and pain and her eyes lowered as if she must not look at her oppressor directly. Stanza Four: In this stanza, the poet asks what her oppressors wish to happen. The speaker is unstoppable, and her courage and determination are as inevitable as the passage of time marked by the motions of natural elements. In the same way that people raise their hopes for good things in life, she will also rise. Stanza Three: The speaker compares herself to timeless natural elements, suggesting that her strength is as predictable and eternal as the “moons,” “suns,” and “tides.” No one should question whether she can conquer obstacles-she always will, just as the sun and the moon rise and the tides of the ocean ebb and flow. She is elated to be the “sassy” woman she is and will strut before him with pride.

She is not weighed down by his oppression at all. She is mocking the object of the poem by highlighting how her empowered walk must be depressing for him. She knows exactly why her oppressor is gloomy, even if she is inquiring about it. However, her tone is provocative and sarcastic rather than naive. Stanza Two: The narrator is asking questions and is bewildered by the oppressor’s mood. No matter what they try to do, she will resist. She is challenging her oppressors and telling them boldly that they will not oppress her the way they did her ancestors. She feels that her ancestors are being antagonized in the history books and that her generation is being tied to this history and hampered in their efforts to unshackle themselves from the slavery of the past.