![]() Maya Angelou went through the tough times for black women, but she endured all the difficulties and stayed strong, because she had a hope. The message of the poem lies in hope no matter what. They demonstrate the author’s rage towards the unknown “you” and add emotions to each stanza. Throughout the poem, we meet the rhetorical questions addressing to someone unknown: “Does my sassiness upset you?”, “Why are you beset with gloom?” (Angelou, 35). This metaphor hints at both her skin color, and her power. In the next lines the author compares herself with “a black ocean”. She is evidently a black woman with a shady past or she may just mention the dark times in the history of her nation. This allusion “clues us in to who the speaker is in this poem” (“Motif: In Search Of a Theme” 2). We meet the example of allusion to slavery in the next column: “Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise” (Angelou, 35). It’s obvious that the poet is self-confident. The images of gold mines and oil wells remind us of wealth, but it’s not connected with money. We meet the example of the symbolism in the following lines: “’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room” and “’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard” (Angelou, 35). Despite all the hardships, Maya Angelou is confident of her power and will to life. The repetition of “stillI rise” throughout the poem proves that no matter what happens, the author will always stand up and keep on fighting. In the poem, we meet several poetic devices which make “a rhythmic, enchanting declaration of strength” (“Motif: In Search Of a Theme” 1). Still I Rise is a poem about African American life which “celebrates perseverance and determination” (“Motif: In Search Of a Theme” 1). My goal in this paper is to demonstrate the power of Maya Angelou’s words by the analysis of her famous poem Still I Rise. This woman has become a spokesperson of black people and a defender of black culture. She was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King. It’s hard to imagine, but before becoming a writer and a poet, she even had an experience of being a prostitute, night-club dancer and fry cook. Marguerite Ann Johnson, which is her real name, was born in 1928, and in her born days, she has published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry. This woman turned out to have a complicated life journey, but it didn’t prevent her from making an invaluable contribution to the civil rights’ movement of the African Americans. The poem is called Still I Rise, and it is written by Maya Angelou. During my Africa Studies, I found a poem that made me do a research on its author. ![]()
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