LitCharts (2024)

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“Still I Rise” is a poem by the American civil rights activist and writer Maya Angelou. One of Angelou's most acclaimed works, the poem was published in Angelou’s third poetry collection And Still I Rise in 1978. Broadly speaking, the poem is an assertion of the dignity and resilience of marginalized people in the face of oppression. Because Angelou often wrote about blackness and black womanhood, "Still I Rise" can also be read more specifically as a critique of anti-black racism.

• Read the full text of “Still I Rise”

• “Still I Rise” Summary

• “Still I Rise” Themes

  • 

    Defiance in the Face of Oppression

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-4
    • Lines 5-6
    • Lines 7-8
    • Line 9
    • Lines 10-12
    • Lines 13-16
    • Lines 17-20
    • Lines 21-24
    • Lines 25-28
    • Lines 29-32
    • Line 40

  • 

    The Power and Beauty of Blackness

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Line 7
    • Line 8
    • Line 17
    • Lines 19-20
    • Lines 22-23
    • Line 25
    • Lines 27-28
    • Line 29
    • Line 31
    • Lines 33-34
    • Line 35
    • Lines 39-40

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Still I Rise”

  • Lines 1-4

    You may write ...
    ... dust, I'll rise.

  • Lines 5-8

    Does my sassiness ...
    ... my living room.

  • Lines 9-12

    Just like moons ...
    ... Still I'll rise.

  • Lines 13-16

    Did you want ...
    ... my soulful cries?

  • Lines 17-20

    Does my haughtiness ...
    ... my own backyard.

  • Lines 21-24

    You may shoot ...
    ... air, I’ll rise.

  • Lines 25-28

    Does my sexiness ...
    ... of my thighs?

  • Lines 29-34

    Out of the ...
    ... in the tide.

  • Lines 35-40

    Leaving behind nights ...
    ... of the slave.

  • Lines 41-43

    I rise ...
    ... I rise.

• “Still I Rise” Symbols

  • 

    Valuable objects

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 7-8: “I walk like I've got oil wells / Pumping in my living room”
    • Lines 19-20: “I laugh like I've got gold mines / Diggin’ in my own backyard”
    • Lines 27-28: “I dance like I've got diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs”

  • 

    The Ocean

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 10: “the certainty of tides”
    • Lines 33-34: “I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, / Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.”

• “Still I Rise” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Metaphor

    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 21: “You may shoot me with your words”
    • Line 22: “You may cut me with your eyes,”
    • Line 23: “You may kill me with your hatefulness”
    • Line 29: “the huts of history’s shame”
    • Line 33: “I'm a black ocean”
    • Line 40: “I am the dream and the hope of the slave”

  • Simile

    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “like dust, I'll rise”
    • Lines 7-8: “I walk like I've got oil wells / Pumping in my living room”
    • Line 9: “Just like moons and like suns”
    • Lines 11-12: “Just like hopes springing high, / Still I'll rise”
    • Lines 19-20: “I laugh like I've got gold mines / Diggin’ in my own backyard”
    • Line 24: “like air, I’ll rise”
    • Lines 27-28: “I dance like I've got diamonds / At the meeting of my thighs”

  • Rhetorical Question

    Where rhetorical question appears in the poem:

    • Lines 5-6: “Does my sassiness upset you? / Why are you beset with gloom?”
    • Lines 13-16: “Did you want to see me broken? / Bowed head and lowered eyes? / Shoulders falling down like teardrops, / Weakened by my soulful cries?”
    • Line 17: “Does my haughtiness offend you?”
    • Lines 25-28: “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?”

  • Repetition

    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “You may”
    • Line 3: “You may”
    • Line 4: “But still, like dust, I'll rise.”
    • Line 5: “Does my”
    • Line 7: “’Cause I”
    • Line 9: “Just like”
    • Line 11: “Just like”
    • Line 12: “Still I'll rise”
    • Line 17: “Does my”
    • Line 19: “’Cause I”
    • Line 21: “You may”
    • Line 22: “You may”
    • Line 23: “You may”
    • Line 24: “But still, like air, I’ll rise.”
    • Line 25: “Does my”
    • Line 30: “I rise”
    • Line 32: “I rise”
    • Line 36: “I rise”
    • Line 38: “I rise”
    • Lines 41-43: “I rise / I rise / I rise.”

  • Caesura

    Where caesura appears in the poem:

    • Line 2: “bitter, twisted”
    • Line 4: “still, like dust, I'll”
    • Line 24: “still, like air, I’ll”
    • Line 33: “ocean, leaping”

  • Enjambment

    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “history / With”
    • Lines 7-8: “wells / Pumping”
    • Lines 18-19: “hard / ’Cause”
    • Lines 19-20: “mines / Diggin’”
    • Lines 26-27: “surprise / That”
    • Lines 27-28: “diamonds / At”
    • Lines 29-30: “shame / I”
    • Lines 30-31: “rise / Up”
    • Lines 31-32: “pain / I”
    • Lines 35-36: “fear / I”
    • Lines 36-37: “rise / Into”
    • Lines 37-38: “clear / I”
    • Lines 38-39: “rise / Bringing”

  • Alliteration

    Where alliteration appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “may,” “me”
    • Line 3: “may,” “me,” “dirt”
    • Line 4: “dust”
    • Line 5: “sassiness upset”
    • Line 6: “beset,” “gloom”
    • Line 7: “walk,” “got,” “wells”
    • Line 9: “suns”
    • Line 10: “certainty”
    • Line 11: “hopes,” “springing,” “high”
    • Line 12: “Still”
    • Line 13: “broken”
    • Line 14: “Bowed”
    • Line 17: “Does”
    • Line 18: “Don't”
    • Line 19: “laugh like,” “got gold”
    • Line 20: “Diggin”
    • Line 21: “You,” “may,” “me,” “with,” “your,” “words”
    • Line 22: “You,” “may,” “cut,” “me,” “your”
    • Line 23: “You,” “may,” “kill,” “me,” “your”
    • Line 25: “Does,” “sexiness”
    • Line 26: “Does,” “surprise”
    • Line 27: “dance,” “diamonds”
    • Line 29: “huts,” “history’s”
    • Line 31: “past,” “pain”
    • Line 33: “wide”
    • Line 34: “Welling”
    • Line 39: “gifts,” “gave”

  • Consonance

    Where consonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1
    • Line 2
    • Line 3
    • Line 4
    • Line 5
    • Line 6
    • Line 7
    • Line 8
    • Line 9
    • Line 10
    • Line 11
    • Line 12
    • Line 13
    • Line 14
    • Line 15
    • Line 17
    • Line 18
    • Line 19
    • Line 20
    • Line 21
    • Line 22
    • Line 23
    • Line 24
    • Line 25
    • Line 26
    • Line 27
    • Line 28
    • Line 29
    • Line 31
    • Line 32
    • Lines 33-34
    • Line 34
    • Line 35
    • Line 36
    • Line 37
    • Line 38
    • Line 39
    • Line 40
    • Line 41
    • Line 42
    • Line 43

  • Assonance

    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “me,” “history”
    • Line 2: “With,” “bitter,” “twisted,” “lies”
    • Lines 4-4: “But still, / dust, I'll ”
    • Line 4: “like,” “rise”
    • Line 5: “upset,” “you”
    • Line 6: “Why,” “you,” “beset,” “gloom”
    • Line 7: “I,” “walk,” “like,” “I've,” “got”
    • Line 8: “Pumping,” “in,” “my,” “living,” “room”
    • Line 9: “like,” “like”
    • Line 10: “tides”
    • Line 11: “like,” “high”
    • Lines 11-12: “springing / , / Still I'll ”
    • Line 12: “rise”
    • Line 13: “see,” “me”
    • Line 14: “Bowed,” “lowered ,” “eyes”
    • Line 15: “Shoulders,” “down”
    • Lines 15-16: “teardrops, / Weakened by my ”
    • Line 16: “soulful,” “cries”
    • Line 18: “hard”
    • Line 19: “I,” “like,” “I've,” “mines”
    • Line 20: “my,” “backyard”
    • Line 21: “You,” “shoot”
    • Line 22: “You,” “eyes”
    • Line 23: “You”
    • Line 24: “like,” “I’ll ,” “rise”
    • Line 25: “sexiness upset”
    • Line 26: “surprise”
    • Line 27: “I,” “like ,” “I've,” “diamonds”
    • Line 28: “thighs”
    • Line 29: “huts,” “shame”
    • Line 30: “I rise”
    • Line 31: “Up,” “past that’s,” “pain”
    • Line 32: “I rise”
    • Line 33: “I'm,” “wide”
    • Line 34: “Welling,” “swelling,” “I ,” “tide”
    • Line 35: “behind,” “nights,” “fear”
    • Line 36: “I rise”
    • Line 37: “wondrously,” “clear”
    • Line 38: “I rise”
    • Line 39: “Bringing,” “gifts,” “my,” “gave”
    • Line 40: “I,” “slave”
    • Lines 41-43: “I rise / I rise / I rise”

• “Still I Rise” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Trod
  • Beset
  • Gloom
  • Oil wells
  • Springing
  • Soulful
  • Huts
  • Rooted
  • Welling
  • Bear

  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “trod”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Still I Rise”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Still I Rise” Speaker

• “Still I Rise” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Still I Rise”

• More “Still I Rise” Resources

  • External Resources

    • "Still I Rise" and Today's America— Read about the relevance and meaning of "Still I Rise" to America today.

    • The Political Power of "Still I Rise"— Learn how the poem has remained relevant for contemporary political figures and celebrities.

    • "Still I Rise" Art Exhibit— Learn how other artists have been inspired by and responded to Angelou's poem.

    • Maya Angelou Recites "Still I Rise"— Listen to the poet read "Still I Rise" aloud.

    • "Still I Rise" Music Video— Watch a video that creatively integratesAngelou's recitation of the poem with relevant images.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Maya Angelou

    • Caged Bird

    • Harlem Hopscotch

    • Life Doesn't Frighten Me

    • On Aging

    • On the Pulse of Morning

    • Phenomenal Woman

    • When Great Trees Fall

    • Woman Work