Maya Angelou, original name Marguerite Annie Johnson, (1928- 2014)was an

American author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, stage and

screen producer, director, performer, singer, and civil rights activist. She was
best known for her seven autobiographical books: Mom & Me & Mom
The poem “Still I Rise” is an inspiring and emotional poem that’s
based around Maya Angelou’s experience. The poem was published in 1978,
written in response to the surge of anti-black racism in America. It is a nine-
stanza poem of 43 lines. The first 7 stanzas follow the rhyme scheme of abcb,
the sixth and the seventh have the rhyme scheme abcc while the last 2 stanzas
of irregular line length follow ababcc. It encourages readers to love
themselves fully and persevere in the face of every hardship. The poem takes
the reader through a series of statements the speaker makes about herself.
The speaker here represents the black community as a whole. She praises her
strength, her body, and her ability to rise up and away from her personal and
historical past. There is nothing, the speaker declares, that can hold her back.
She is going to “rise” above and beyond anything that seeks to control her.
She is in fact celebrating her individuality, determination, her courage and
confidence which she has gained after facing many odds in life.
The poem begins with a direct address to the ones who are trying to
write her down in history. Oppressors try to change the facts of history with
their bitter, twisted lies. In the first stanza of her poem there is a neat piece of
wordplay: ‘write down in history’ means both ‘write down the history of me
and my people’. It also means ‘write me down, i.e., downplay me and my
achievements by lying about me’.The poet is firm in her courage that even if
she is put down to the level of dirt, she is trodden by people, she will rise
from it like dust rising from someone’s boots . The second stanza begins
with some direct questions raised by her. She asks if her sassiness, her
confidence in herself and her own attractiveness making people upset and
gloomy ? She gives the answer to these questions on her own, saying that her
confidence rises out of her achievements symbolized by ‘oil pumping in her
living room’.
The third stanza displays the firmness in the poet’s conviction in her
ability to rise. She compares her determination and resilience to the certainty
of the appearance of the Moons and the Suns. Their presence creates tides (
which are a result of the moon’s gravitational pull)on the Earth, which is
more than certain. The poet affirms that nothing can stop her from rising
against challenges.
 The fourth stanza raises a few more questions to the addressee (the
white Americans) on wanting to see her spirit broken.The white oppressors
wish to see her broken ,with her head bowed, eyes lowered and shoulders
falling .The speaker is aware that these postures are symbols of shame and
failure.They also desire to see her ‘soulful cries’.The rhetorical questions
filled with sarcasm are used by the speaker to establish an attitude of
defiance.
In the fifth stanza, the speaker asserts her ‘haughtiness’ ,the arrogant
attitude she has and the confidence she has developed in her, despite all her
problems Rather than bowing her head in submission or defeat, she laughs
with the confidence and self-assurance of someone who is rich, having gold
mines in his/her back yard.
The sixth stanza registers the way in which she confronts all the
attempts of her oppressors in beating her down .Their hatefulness, abusive
words and ‘cutting’ stares might kill her but they cannot defeat her in her
attempts to overcome the challenges in life.She is certain that like air she
will rise.
In the seventh stanza, the speaker claims to have a sexiness of her
own.She is conscious of her beauty and asks the oppressors if they find it
surprising and disturbing. Being a woman she is aware of the power of her
womanliness which she believes is as precious as diamonds.
‘Still I Rise’ concludes by departing from the quatrain form used up
until this point, instead ending with fifteen lines which see the refrain ‘I rise’
repeated multiple times. These lines reveals her as a woman of high self-
esteem and confidence. Listing out the pains she has undergone ,she goes on
to describe the way in which she faced these odds in life.. In this stanza, she
repeats “I rise” twice, “Out of the huts of history’s shame” signifies the
shame and torment they have undergone in the past .She says her
community’s past is rooted in pain, meaning it is almost unable to escape it.
But she will rise above it. The line “I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide” is a reference to her race and
identity- she is black and is proud of it, hence the term “black ocean.”
She is a ‘black ocean’, powerful, energetic, and vast, and she can bear the
tidal fluctuations, the ups and downs,life throws at her. She then asserts how
she is leaving behind those dark times of ‘terror and fear’ and looking
forward to a new dawn , which is brighter and more hopeful. She wishes to
take along with her the ‘gifts’ her ancestors gave her, (courage determination
and the spirit to persevere. She has reached a stage in life when people look
up to her. They dream to become like her and lay their hopes upon her. Thus
ending the poem in the form of a sermon, repeating the words “I rise”
thrice.These repeated words makes clear the speaker’s intention in future.For
her there is no looking back after all that she has endured.

1.Who is the narrator/speaker in the poem?

Ans. The speaker is the poet persona who is a representative of the oppressed
classes, specifically the Black Americans.
2.Who is the ‘you’ addressed in the poem?
Ans. The ‘you’ addressed in the poem are the white oppressors who ill-treat
and discriminate against the ‘blacks’.
3.Whom does the narrators sassiness upset?
The narrator’s sassiness upsets the white people who dominate over and
exploit the black people.
4.What do “oil wells in the living room” signify?
Ans. The “oil wells in the living room” signifies her confidence over her
achievements in life. This means that the poet is able to remain happy in spite
of the adversities in life.
5.Why do you think that the poet uses plurals in the lines “just like the Moons
and the Suns”?
Ans. The moons and suns refer to the passage of time. Moons refer to the
nights and suns refer to the days that pass by.
6.What do “shoulders falling like teardrops” signify?
Ans. The comparison of the ‘shoulders’ to the ‘teardrops’ indicates the
condition or state in which the white oppressors wish to see the black
community. They wish to see the blacks with dropping shoulders (indicating
lack of confidence) and weakened souls.
7.Why does the narrator laugh as if she has got goldmines digging in her
backyard?
Ans.The narrator wants to offend the oppressors for having ill-treated her
community for a long period. Her laugh represents her determination and
confidence in the face of all odds.
8.Whom does the narrators sexiness upset?
Ans. The narrator’s sexiness upsets the white oppressors. She taunts them
asking if her sexiness comes as a surprise to her.
9.What is the metaphor used to convey the narrator’s sexiness?
Ans Her sexiness is compared to the presence of diamonds at the meeting of
her thighs indicating how precious her womanliness is to her.
10.What does the phrase ‘huts of history’s shame represent?
Ans. The phrase ‘huts of history’s shame indicates at the shameful past
experienced by her ancestors. The humiliation and the atrocities faced by her
ancestors at the hands of the oppressors is referred to here.
11.Who are the narrators ancestors?
Ans. Members of the black community who were made to face
discrimination and ill-treatment at the hands of the white are her ancestors.
12.How does the poem end?
Ans. The poem has a sermon like ending through which the poet re-affirms
her determination over her claim that whatsoever happens there is no looking
back. The black race whom she represents will never retreat into the days of
slavery again.