And Still I Rise - Maya Angelou

 Introduction of the Writer :

Maya Angelou was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. Angelou's series of seven autobiographies focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. 

The main themes that can be found in her writing include African American experiences, love, loss, music, discrimination, family, identity, racism, struggle, and slavery. The purpose of her work was to show the inequality between blacks and whites in America. Angelou wanted to enlighten blacks and uplift society with her work.

In the "And Still I Rise" volume, there are three sections, comprising a total of 32 poems, which cover different feelings and themes. Three sections: "Touch Me, Life, Not Softly"; "Travelling"; "And Still I Rise." There are many themes and characteristics in this collection, but the key one is confidence. 

Introduction of the poem

“Still I Rise” is one of Maya Angelou’s most celebrated poems. Originally published in 1978 in Angelou’s third volume of verse, And Still I Rise, it shares its title with a play she wrote in 1976 and was written during a highly prolific time in the author’s career. And Still I Rise" is a collection of poetry that was published in 1978 by Random House. This was Maya Angelou's third collection and tackles the struggles of being a black woman, oppression in society, and the surge of racism. Angelou heavily draws from the history of slavery in America as inspiration.

Poem:

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies

You may tred me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

In this stanza, The speaker is angry. She feels that her ancestors are being antagonised 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. She is challenging her oppressors and telling them boldly that they will not oppress her the way they did her ancestors. No matter what they try to do, she will resist.

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.

Stanza Two: The narrator is asking questions and is bewildered by the oppressor’s mood. However, her tone is provocative and sarcastic rather than naive. She knows exactly why her oppressor is gloomy, even if she is inquiring about it. She is mocking the object of the poem by highlighting how her empowered walk must be depressing for him. She is not weighed down by his oppression at all. She is elated to be the “sassy” woman she is and will strut before him with pride.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll 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. In the same way that people raise their hopes for good things in life, she will also rise. The speaker is unstoppable, and her courage and determination are as inevitable as the passage of time marked by the motions of natural elements.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Stanza Four: In this stanza, the poet asks what her oppressors wish to happen. The tone is somber. 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. 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.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Digging in my own backyard.

Stanza Five: The tone of the poem picks up again, as the speaker reverts to a confident and proud attitude. 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. The speaker makes a reference to wealth yet again, this time referring to the way in which she laughs. She is full of joy, as if she had gold mines in her own backyard.

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.

Stanza Six: In this stanza, the speaker outlines different actions that her oppressor might take. They are all metaphors for violent behavior, conveyed through the ways in which a person might look at or speak to another person. The tone is confrontational and direct, addressing the "you" repeatedly. Regardless of any actions the oppressor may take, the speaker still “rises” above it all at the end.

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?

Stanza Seven: This stanza addresses the speaker’s gender, providing the strongest evidence that she is indeed female. The provocative tone illustrates the speaker as a sensual creature, offering a deeply sexual connotation for the first time in the poem. The image of wealth is portrayed again, depicting a free, powerful female who dances as if she had “diamonds” between her thighs.

Out of the hits 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 with the tide.

Stanza Eight: The meter of the poem shifts in this stanza, as does the way in which it is written. This stanza does not interrogate the oppressor, instead taking a calmer tone that sounds like a prayer or a meditation. In the previous stanzas, the speaker has been firing questions at her oppressor and essentially putting his behavior on trial. 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. She is a “black ocean” of strength, withstanding the tides that would otherwise knock her down.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wonderfully 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

Stanza Nine: The speaker is taking a clear step forward, leaving behind the terrors of the past. The daybreak will bring sunshine and hope and clarity. The poet affirms her intention to rise above the past and fulfill the dreams and hopes of her slave ancestors. Their pain and suffering drives her to meet her full potential in life, which they were unable to do themselves. The speaker has every intention of writing each chapter of her life and not letting oppressors write that history for her. She will not be held back by what the oppressors have done to her ancestors.

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 behaviours 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.

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 bias just like her ancestors dreamed would be possible. She will fulfill their dreams and hopes for freedom and happiness

• Structure and Form

‘Still I Rise’ is a nine-stanza poem that’s separated into uneven sets of lines. The first seven stanzas contain four lines, known as quatrains, stanza eight has six lines and the ninth has nine. The first seven stanzas follow a rhyme scheme of ABCB, the eighth: ABABCC, and the ninth: ABABCCBBB.

• Tone and Mood

Within ‘Still I Rise’ Angelou takes a strong and determined tone throughout her writing. By addressing her’s, and all marginalized communities’ strengths, pasts, and futures head-on, she’s able to create a very similar mood. A reader should walk away from ‘Still Rise’ feeling inspired, joyful, and reinvigorated with courage and strength.

• The speaker

The speaker of this poem is a confident, empowered, and resilient woman who refuses to succumb to oppression. By making references to her ancestors and the ways in which they have been depicted in history, she proclaims adamantly that she will break the cycle of suffering and rise above the pain of her heritage. She uses a confrontational tone and addresses an unspecified “you” throughout the poem.

However, by referring to herself as a “black ocean” and citing the word “slave,” the speaker gives the poem racial overtones and implies that she is, in fact, a black woman. This reference therefore implies that she is most likely addressing the white oppressors who have enslaved and discriminated against black people.

• The white oppressors

The “you” most likely refers to the white oppressors who have historically kept the speaker's people down in history with “bitter, twisted lies.” This history may refer to all the different forms of oppression that black people have encountered around the world, from colonial oppression to racism and a lack of civil rights in America and beyond. The speaker implies that black people have been targeted unfairly, treated cruelly, and depicted dishonestly. She directs her rage at these oppressors, condemns their behavior, and challenges them to try to stop her from shedding the horrible past. She will not be silenced, and she will overcome any obstacles that come her way. She is the victor, not the victim.

• Themes:

1)Oppression

One of the central themes in this poem is that of oppression. The poet speaks of the legacy of oppression, making references to the suffering of black people throughout history. She condemns the oppressors - ostensibly, white people - with great fierceness. She will make her “slave” ancestors proud by rising above their suffering and defying the oppressors.

2)Resilience 

The story of racial legacy is that of struggle and overcoming. This poem covers both those ideas. The poet talks about the struggle borne out of oppression, as well as the overcoming. Rather than giving up, the poet demonstrates a resilient, defiant spirit. The frequent repetition of “I’ll rise” illustrates the poet's determination to remain resilient.

3)Race/Racism

The oppression faced by the speaker is linked to the history of racism. The fact that the speaker calls herself a "black ocean" is significant because this is an overt reference to race, showing that the binary between "you" and "I" in the poem is linked to a racial distinction. She condemns racism and speaks about a universal idea—overcoming prejudice of any kind—that transcends geographical boundaries or the color of one’s skin.

4)Sexism  

Since the speaker is ostensibly female (an extension of the poet herself), one might argue that sexism is another factor driving the speaker’s anger. While much of the figurative language applies to the oppression of black males and females, the stanza which describes the speaker’s “sexiness” and provocative “dancing” implies that she is an empowered female. She condemns the prejudice against her race as well as her sex, and she rebels against any male oppressor by delighting in her sensuality.