Angelou's most popular poem refers to the indomitable spirit of black-women people. Despite adversity and racism and femininity, Angelou expresses her faith that she, the speaker, and the whole of the black-woman people will overcome their hardships and triumph. "Still I Rise" is primarily about self-respect and confidence. In the poem, Angelou reveals how she will overcome anything through her self-esteem. She shows how nothing can get her down. She will rise to any occasion and nothing, not even her skin colour and gender, will hold her back. This poem is her declaration that she, for one, would not allow the hatefulness of society to determine her own success. This poem is not only a proclamation of her own determination to rise above society, but was also a call to others to live above the society in which they were brought up.
This stirring poem is packed full of figurative language. It functions as a sort of secular hymn to the oppressed and abused. The message is loud and clear—no matter the cruelty, regardless of method and circumstance, the victim will rise up, the slave will overcome adversity. Although written with black slavery and women rights issues in mind, "Still I Rise" is universal in its appeal. Any innocent individual, any minority, or any nation subject to oppression or abuse can understand its underlying theme—don't give in to torture, bullying, humiliation, and injustice especially for black-women.
This poem includes 43 lines in total, made up of seven quatrains and two end stanzas which help reinforce the theme of individual hope, with the phrase "I rise" being repeated like a mantra. This is a poem aimed at the oppressor. Note the first "you" in the first line and the rhyme scheme abcb, which tightly knits the stanza together. It's worth going through the rhyme's effect because the full rhymes such as eyes/cries, hard/backyard, surprise/thighs repeat until the last two stanzas, when the scheme changes from abcb to abcc and aabb, giving an absolute solid ending to the piece. If this poem were a sculpture, it would have a granite plinth to stand on. The natural imagery is far-reaching and the voice is loud. In this poem there are moons and suns, tides and black oceans. There is a clear daybreak and ancestral gifts, all joining together in a crescendo of hope.
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.
The first stanza seems to describe the position of someone who is always stepped on by others who may feel they have a higher position. This stanza gave a satire to white people who at that time always felt superior to black people, especially black-women. They may look down on them the least. However, the author says in the last line that even though they have been trampled on, black people will rise up like dust that may fly in the wind.
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.
The writer who puts herself as a black-woman person seems to ask "Does my sassiness upset you?". This question seems to make fun of white people who continue to feel competitive when the writer (a dark-skinned woman) acts recklessly (sassiness/activeness). Moreover, the author describes that she walks as if he has an oil well (has something valuable to him) can make them more upset.
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 backyard.
In the three stanzas above, black women are depicted as continuing to rise even though they are made fun of by those around them. This stanza seems to encourage every woman, especially those with black skin, not to take words too seriously if they can bring them down. During the stanza, the writer also asked, "Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?". These questions seem to challenge humans who can only demean women, especially women with dark skin. The writer asked if they wanted to see the woman sad and lowered their heads. Even the author also asked if her arrogance offended them. The author answers the question directly by saying that she laughs at the insult as if she owns the most valuable thing in the world (her own gold mine).
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.
The author also challenges, even if they try to shoot dark-skinned women with their words, or to cut them with a glance, or even kill them with hatred, they will still rise again. Similes and metaphor abound. Every stanza has at least one, from the first ("But still, like dust, I'll rise") to the last ("I am the dream and the hope of the slave."). There's a defiance in the poem as you read through, as if the speaker is trying to prick the conscience of the oppressor by reminding them of past wrongs and present realities. The word "sassiness" conveys the speakers self-confidence, backed up by the use of "haughtiness" and "sexiness." The poet's use of hyperbole adds a kind of absurd beauty when she says,
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as some surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Stanza six brings the oppressive issue to a climax. Three lines begin with "You," the speaker, choosing particularly active verbs—"shoot," "cut," and "kill"—to emphasize the aggression. But this aggression comes to no avail, for the oppressed will still rise, this time like air, an element which you cannot shoot, cut, or kill. All in all, this is an inspirational poem with a powerful repetitive energy, a universal message, and a clear, positive pulse throughout.