1/17/2024 0 Comments Maya angelou still i rise meaningIn this stanza, the speaking voice outlines different actions that her oppressors might take. Like the previous oil wells, the gold mines represent perpetual wealth, implying she does not possess just a fixed amount of wealth (courage, determination), since it is unlimited. This time, her light-hearted laugh may suggest that she has gold mines in her own backyard: she may be oppressed, but her confidence is like gold. The last two lines of this stanza, just as in the second stanza, once again portray the speaking voice as carefree and jubilant, as if she were wealthy. In the fifth stanza the speaker reverts to a confident and proud attitude and provokes the oppressor, using the word “offend”, which is an ironic choice, since it is the speaker who is the offended party. The stanza depicts a desperate person whose body is weakened by cries coming from a tortured soul. The image of their “shoulders falling down like teardrops” alludes to the collapse of both their body and their spirit. The “ bowed head” and “ lowered eyes” imply sadness, pain and even shame. After their patience and resilience have been tested so often, they are emotionally and physically devastated. The fourth stanza portrays the characteristics of oppressed people who are described as “broken”. The speaker emphasizes that the oppressors’ efforts to subdue her will be futile, while her success in rising above the pain is as certain as the cycles of nature. Her strength is as predictable, unstoppable and eternal as the “moons,” “suns,” and “tides.”Ī hint at the movement towards equality, which is going to happen without taking into account the individual reactions against it: it is similar to a tidal wave that will not be stopped by any human effort, to the sun and the moon that will rise and set on their own, not according to the desires of man. In the third stanza there are celestial and natural references to suggest her resilience and determination to rise against all challenges. And this gives her control over her life, just as a rich person with oil wells presumably has enough money to do what he or she pleases. Comparing herself to someone who has “oil wells” pumping in her house, she is suggesting that she is rich and powerful, not in a monetary sense, but in spirit. This is the first reference to a symbol for wealth. This is showed by the powerful last lines of the stanza underlying that her confidence and strength are pouring out of her like oil out of a well. Not only does she not care that her attitude upsets them, but she seems even amused by that. She knows exactly why her oppressors are gloomy, she recognises the impact of her behaviour and personality, and is delighted by the fact that she bewilders them with her power and confidence. However, her tone is provocative and sarcastic rather than naive. In the second stanza, the speaker questions if her “sassiness”, her bold attitude, upsets her oppressors. She is challenging her oppressors and telling them boldly that they will not overcome her the way they used to oppress her ancestors: no matter what they try to do, she will resist. Therefore, she is not only angry, but confident since she is channelling her rage to find a way out. She will essentially rise above oppression and defy her oppressors. However, no matter how much the oppressors try to crush the speaker and other black people, she will “rise” like dust. The speaker creates an indelible image of black people being “trod” in dirt, not just knocked down, but trampled on so as to be pressed, injured. As the poem continues, the “you” turns out to be an oppressor, namely a white oppressor. The tone of the speaker in the first stanza is angry when she addresses the object of the poem, an unspecified “you”. helps reinforce the theme of individual hope. It is a powerful poem about the struggle to overcome prejudice and injustice, where the repetition of “I rise” in mantra style, to show that she is able to rise every time her oppressors try to knock her down. “Still I Rise” is a poem by Maya Angelou in her third volume of poetry with the same title, which was published in 1978 and focuses on the importance of hopeful determination to rise above difficulty and discouragement.
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