Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Still I Rise - Maya Angelou
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 Maya Angelou's 'Still I Rise' is a piece written on women's rights and civil rights. Maya Angelou was an African American civil rights activist and came from a long generation of slaves and through this poem, tried to speak out for all the women. She was also a poet, playwright, film director, and actress. I found this poem very interesting and fascinating to read because through many metaphors and symbols, she managed to get a message out. Angelou used many phrases that symbolized what she was trying to say, for example, when she wrote "But still, like dust, I'll rise." she used dust as a simile and implied that she was close to nature and earth. Angelou used many characteristics to describe herself like "sassiness" to show the confident attitude of a young woman and used the phrase "Cause I walk like I've got oil wells pumping in my living room" which again is a simile because oil has large values just like she does and used "living room" to show family values. She also used the word "cause" instead of "because" to make it more personal. A symbol that Maya used for fertility was when she wrote "just like moons and suns" and described the constant menstrual cycle. Angelou also used imagery in her poem; and example of this is "Bowed head and lowered eyes". Angelou uses the word haughtiness next to describe now a more mature and older woman and not so much a young one anymore. Diamonds are also used in the poem as a simile to describe the woman's anatomy and the power of their sexuality. Some alliteration is also used like in the phrase "Out of the huts of history's shame" and used huts to describe a place where people wouldn't like to live. With the phrase "Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave" Angelou is implying that she is now free and "the gifts" are her qualities. Towards the end of Angelou's piece, she starts repeating the title "I rise" which brings out a strong message in this poem about women's rights and that is what makes this very powerful.
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