Willy Gonzales Sastra Inggris 18B

5031811019

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

4. Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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?

8. 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.

9. 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.
Willy Gonzales Sastra Inggris 18B
5031811019

Poetic Terminology:

1. Rhyme:
In the first stanza, I found that this is a quatrain stanza that rhymes with ABAB pattern at the end of
every lines of this stanza.

The same pattern of rhyme also occurs in Stanza 6 where the ABAB pattern is embodied in the / əs/
/ais/ /es/ /ais/ sound at the end of every line in that stanza.

Stanza 8 also has a quite obvious rhyme, the pattern of the rhyme, however, is a little odd but you
sure can still hear the rhyme if you read it out loud. In line 1-4 of this stanza the rhyme is ABAB,
however it changes it line 5 or 6 where the rhyme becomes AA for line 5 and 6. This a six lines stanza
or also called sestet (sextet).

Stanza 9 also, same as stanza 8, also has a quite obvious rhyme in a very unique pattern. The rhyme
pattern of this stanza is quite similar as stanza 8 in lines 1 up to 6, however, unlike stanza 8, stanza 9
has 9 lines (Spenserian Stanza (https://www.britannica.com/art/Spenserian-stanza, n.d.)) with the last
three lines contains only repetition of “I rise”.

2. Figurative Language:
Simile occurs frequently in this poem.
The simile is shown with the use of words “just like” and “like” in the stanza and lines of this poem.

Stanza 1 line 4: But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Stanza 2 line 3: ’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Stanza 3 line 1 and 3: Just like moons and like suns,
Just like hopes springing high,
And so on on the other stanzas and lines.

Poetic Elements:

1. Diction:
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
(stanza 3)

The last line of the stanza three uses word “rise” which is part of diction in poetry or a specifically
chosen word for certain purpose. The word “rise” is used here because it matches the other lines in
this stanza. For example, in the first line the words “rise” is colloquial and strongly related to word
“sun” as in “sunrise”. It also does with the second line of this stanza where the word “rise” is ,again,
colloquial and related with the word “tides” as in “rising tides”. So the selection of word “rise” here
is used to match the nuance of the whole stanza of stanza three.

2. Repetition (Syntax)
The use of repetition here is for emphasizing certain points. The words “I rise” is repeated a lot in
the whole poem especially in the last stanza where lines 7-9 of this stanza only contains “I rise”
repeated back to back. The intention of this repetition is of course to emphasize the this person in the
point of view of speaking is willing to rise even despite all difficulties beset them.