Still I Rise - Explanation

Stanza 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.

The poem starts with the word "you" as if the speaker directly addresses someone who is
trying to "write her down in history". So, the speaker alleges that this history is full of lies.
Someone is trying to alter the history with "bitter, twisted lies" to show her lesser and in the
wrong dimension. The speaker here shows a "don't care" attitude though. She is firm in her
courage.

She states very loudly that if she is put down to the level of dirt, she will rise from it. Just as
the dust leaves the land and rises up in the air, she will rise again and prove herself. She
has got the confidence.

In reality, the poet Maya Angelou is a representative of the Afro-American community and a
civil rights activist. The poet here claims that the African-Americans were shown as less
important by the White Americans who governed the country by large. So, these lines can be
seen as a challenge thrown by the poet to the Whites who always try to demean the black
people.

Stanza 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.

The second stanza of the poem "Still I Rise" opens with a question. The poet-speaker refers
her voice as "Sassy" (spirited or lively) and asks to the listeners whether her sassy tone is
upsetting them. She also notices that the people in her society are looking gloomy or sad.
She asks the reason behind it. Maybe they are jealous of her achievements.

The poet-speaker is proud that she is successful in her life now. She has the attitude as if
she has got the oil wells.

In the then America, the businessmen of oil Industry were among the richest.
So, the idea of "oil wells pumping in my living room" symbolizes her success.

She conveys her happiness, confidence and her powerful positive attitude that are behind
her success.

Stanza 3
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
In this stanza, the speaker compares herself with the moon and the sun. The Movements of
the moons and the suns (the stars and the satellites) are eternal facts of the universe which
never change. Just like every new day the sun shines, and when the sun sets, the moon
rises, the speaker is damn sure of her rise.

The speaker reiterates the certainty of her success. That is as inevitable as the certainty of
tides in rivers and seas. She compares her rise to rising hopes. Even though the White
Americans try to humiliate her, she will rise with the certainty of the sun, the moon and the
tides. "Still I'll rise" is the promise she makes and the challenge she poses.

Stanza 4
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

The speaker asks if others wanted to see her in a state of mental breakdown unhappy,
broken and shattered. She knows that some people are unhappy with her rising success and
they would rather want to see her in a disaster.

They wished that she were a broken lady with bowed head and lowered eyes, and with fallen
shoulders like the teardrops from her "soulful cries". It means they wanted to see her not
only devastated just from outside, but also deserted from deep within her soul.

Stanza 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.

Now the speaker asks if her haughtiness (proud nature) offends others. She guesses that
everyone is annoyed at her being bold. She advises people not to take it so seriously.

She tells them not to get offended by her attributes. She uses here the reference of "gold
mines". She flaunts her "success" before the society in such a way that people feel as if she
has found a gold mine in her own backyard. Apparently, the speaker is enjoying the success
she has found.

Stanza 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.

Angelou now mentions the gestures of the people which are not so good. They are using
abusive words against her which is like shooting her. They give her nasty looks. It feels like
they're cutting her by those sights. She is not being loved by others. Her enemies use "hate"
as weapon to kill her.
She feels very sad and upset at these gestures. But still she is a strong lady. Despite such
hindrances, like the air, she will rise. These looks, abusing words and hatred can't do any
harm to her. She can't be stopped by anyone.

Stanza 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?

The speaker continues her questioning of society. According to others, she has no physical
charm and is inferior. So, people get upset when they see her desirability and the graceful
way she presents herself. They also got diamonds at the joint place of her thighs. The image
of "diamond" is used to describe her womanliness.

The truth is that she is simple like anyone else and has no extraordinary beauty. But her
confidence and the way she presents herself makes the difference and makes people
surprised and jealous.

Stanza 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.

Now the speaker's tone turns serious in this stanza. She is determined to rise from the
shameful events that happened to her in the past. Here "history's shame" is an illusion to the
practice of slavery. She recalls her painful days. The past was brutal and unfair to the black
community and it's hard to bear such painful memories. But she wants to move forward and
rise above it.

She compares herself to a black ocean.

As we know it, the whites have always tried to suppress the blacks. Angelou declares that
she can leap across anything. Her personality is like the water that wells (rises) and swells.
She bears through everything in life which is compared to the tide here. Though it is very
hard to get over the tide of life, she will rise.

Stanza 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.

The final stanza of Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise" gives us a powerful concluding
message. In the previous stanza, we get to know about Afro-American people and their
sufferings.

Their nights of terror and fear are passed. The night has gone, the day is breaking out. The
speaker is hopeful and could see a wonderful clear and bright future lying ahead of her.

She is proud of her ancestry, so she celebrates its gifts. Her ancestors were brought into the
continent as slaves. They had fought their fight. She got this energy and boldness from her
ancestors who had suffered a lot and gave her the lesson of bravery and survival.

Now, as she has got success, she has become the dream and the hope of the slaves, of
those trodden-down people. And this responsibility gives her further strength and courage to
rise against all the sufferings. She is resolute to rise and she will keep rising.