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.
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.
i think this poem is awesome!! i’m hoping i have to do it for my english exam!
Mayo Angelo shows shes not scared to voice her opinion and doesn’t take nothing off us whites
she is amazing!!!! xxx
This poem to me is very influential im only 14 years old but the meaning of this poem touches me. Mayo Angelo shows shes not scared to voice her opinion but it dosent have to be in a loud crazy way its like she has a seceret but she shares by the stide in her walk or her body language. What i get from the poem is that people are always going to try to bring you down but if you like believe in yourself and you know that you got it going on it shouldnt phase you. All these things are already set against her being a woman then add a ton more tribualtions because shes black but despite all that still i rise
Wow for me as a young black teenage girl it is amazing to hear a black woman to talk with so much power after all she has been through it makes me realise that her and so many other black people have paved the way for young black youths to make something of our lives and after reading this poem i know that through whatever problems come my way whether they would be racial or sexism i know that i will rise because after all the pain, suffering and tourture my ancestors have been through i have not come this far to let them down as the poem says I am the dream and hope of the slave i rise i will rise and i will keeep on rising
This is a wonderful poem and i plan to recite it.
I knew few years back in Houston the Asian community made this poem into a Play….Did any songwriter adapt this poem into a song?
Especially the following sentences are so powerful …
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.
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.
I wish that I can sing it.
I LOVE THIS POEM. THIS IS A GREAT POEM. I AM TEACHING THIS POEM TO MY CHILDREN SO THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER IT.
this poem really makes you think…
A lady friend of mine who used to be slim, attractive with soft white skin and beautiful smiles told me that she once thought that she would never be discriminated, even from time to time she would get some sexual harassments from ADMIRER but deep down inside of her she felt NOT TOO BAD. What she really tries to say is that the kind of discrimination I faced as a minority she has never experienced in her lifetime. About three years ago she quitted smoking and her body weight went of control, she gained about 150 pounds. [She did] Her daughter’s boyfriend started calling her Fat Cow and so did some of her neighbors whenever there’s a conflict. Discrimination against her weight was something she cannot imagine ever, now she can expect this wherever she go in public places. As time go by, this year she make her half centry mark, she told me that Age discrimination is coming on her way also.
No matter you are Black or White, Male or Female, God is treating us the same way, sooner or later we will face some kind of discrimination, if is not your Skin, it may be your Age eventually.
Still I Rise is not just about Race and Sex discrimination, from Maya’s bio and her public speech we can understand this peom has much greater meaning….
celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
AUTHENTIC–in every aspect of the word.
Great author and poet.
i read this poem and have interpreted it in many ways. currently i am writing an analysis of “Still i Rise” and would appreciate any personal interpretations of the poem for examples in my paper. Thanks
WHEN I FIRST READ YOUR POEM IL OVE IT . I LOVE THAT POEM SO MUCH
Very inspiring for African American woman. This poem pionts out all the segragation and racism and sexism our counrty deals with today. I truly loved it and i even think it should be talked out and shared in all schools for all children to understand that in thhe future when they are adults that they dont want all the segragation, racism, and sexism, like we have today. WORLD PEACE IS WHAT WE REALLY NEED!!!!!!!!
–>>MaTTiE
Sorry the title should be:
Still I rise is about being a black, especialiy black woman?
Famous Quote from Maya Angelou:
“As far as I knew white women were never lonely, except in books. White men adored them, Black men desired them and Black women worked for them.”
In Maya’s poem “Still I Rise” is a cry out for standing up for yourself whoever you are under any circumstances. From Maya’s point of view in this poem, a black female is on the bottom of our social level scale in our society/country. It definitely represents two major discriminations in this world among us, one is racial and the other is sex discrimination. From her quote above, she ironically makes a comparison between white woman and black woman in terms of loneliness. I am not trying to say that who’s more deserved to make a complain on discrimination here, I just like people to be more focus on a bigger picture and that is NO Discrimination under any shapes of forms.
To be honest, in most eastern culture, female often were discriminated by their society and the major reason is from their thousands year’s traditional culture. Things are more different now than it used to be in many eastern countries such as Japan, China and Korea. There are still no improvements in most of Arabic countries these days. Unfortunately on the opposite, I have a white lady manager she uses this poem very wisely, not only she continue to discriminate against minority but also she ONLY hires white woman since she becoming my manager and there are five already, she also uses woman minority business[white woman OWN only] for selecting a vedor for the company. Is this the attitude and reaction Maya Angelou would like to see from her readers? No, we must look at the bigger picture and that is No discrimination under race, sex, sexual preference, profession, age, nationality, culture background, etc. Next time before we cry and scream for justice, we must try to stop those biases and discriminations from us first.
I am truly touched by Maya’s Poem. So many times I’ve tried to write in words what I feel inside when I’m confronted with Negative Vibes from those who do not take the time to understand the woman that they see before them. On this day I’ve asked myself why people don’t accept us for who we are instead of what they want us to be. Our strengths as women to not be beaten down and ignored are a struggle that strains the very essence of who we are. Yet because of this constant struggle of the challenges only makes us stronger to achieve, to be believed, and to gain what we as women deserve—to be respected in our own right. Maya wrote “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 is the more or less the thoughts that I woke up with this morning. I give my love, I give my support, I ignored my own needs and desires to be there for you and yet, you lie and chose to ignore me as a woman in my own right when you’ve reached your plateau through my strength the one who choose to believe in you when no other took the time.
“Does my sassiness upset you?…”In this I could relate because once I allow you to see that no matter what you say to me I will still hold my head up high and not your self-doubt of your self become the target of who I am not.
“Just like moons and like suns…” I’ve listened to the heart of my mother and her mother and continue to listen of my grandmother telling me of the heart of her mother in the struggles that they endured to remain the person who they knew they were. From generation to generation this struggle to love and be loved regardless of the conflicts they is and are put on us because we are females.
“Did you want to see me broken…?” Love is given freely but with a cost. And because I allow myself to freely love you; you choose to beat me down with words, with negative actions of not accepting calls, not being there for me when I needed instead of you needing me or because I’ve take matters into my own hands because you were not strong enough to stand by my side. With words you belittle the very person who I am and get mad because your action doesn’t destroy the person who I am.
What I feel at this moment because I still choose to rise will lead me to write what I understand Maya to be saying to me. You must rise, you must rise, you must rise above anguish, you must rise above self-doubt, you must rise above those who try to knock you down. Because you may not know where your strength comes from to endure, accept the many people who are inside of you to maintain, to fulfill, to accomplish, to take pride in who you are, and must of all regardless of all else to continue to love yourself as you continue to learn yourself because as she so beautifully put it, “ I am the dream and the hope of the slave…. Up from a past that’s rooted in pain….still like the air, I’ll rise…’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines diggin’ in my own back yard…Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear…I rise.
Maya Angelou’s words are so empowering. As I continued to read on, I felt so strong and beautiful. I love all of Ms. Angelou’s work, especially Phenominal Woman. Her words are so powerful. She says alot of things that most women can’t say out loud, but are thinking.
Great for abuse survivors. Very helpful and inspiring
like a phoenix, we (black women) will rise…this poem is very impressive.. it truely shows the African mind set…if the sun comes out tommorow, that means we still have hope… hundred years of oppression through slavery, apartheid, historical and present lies…we still rise…thumbs up for Maya Angelou..i’m a different woman after reading this poem…thank You..
I think this poem ibesides maybe phenomenal women is the most inspirational and outstanding poem I have ever read. i would recommend this poem to anyone who can read. From my perspective I think the message Maya is tring to prtray is focused on the struggles of African American women. maya has away to really reach people me especially partly because I am a female and also because I am still a child growing into a woman.Still I Rise. 🙂