Still I Rise

Still I Rise

By Maya Angelou
Poem Hunter.com
May 30, 2014

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

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.

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

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

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 back yard.

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.

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?

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.

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.



Maya Angelou born Marguerite Annie Johnson; (April 4, 1928 –
May 28, 2014) was an American author and poet. She published
seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books
of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and
television shows spanning more than 50 years.

She received dozens of awards and over 30 honorary doctoral
degrees. Angelou is best known for her series of seven
autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult
experiences. The first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969),
tells of her life up to the age of seventeen and brought her
international recognition and acclaim.

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