SPECS & SLIMS
‘Still I rise’ by Maya Angelou
The poem ‘Still I rise’, by Maya Angelou tells a story about a relationship that has just ended. The male antagonist has broken up with the female protagonist and she does not know what she did wrong. The poet it trying to understand what she has done wrong by asking questions ‘Does my sassiness upset you?’ After the question, she then goes on to explain why she thinks that there is nothing wrong with her. Then in the middle and towards the end of the poem, she says that even though the roughness between her and her ex-lover, she still rises ‘Still I rise’ The message that Ms Angelou is trying to convey is that even if the world seems like it is going to end, don’t give up, and come back strong again. Wipe away any tears that you might have, and walk tall and strong. Just like the person in the poem did, leave behind all the stuff that he said or did to you and rise into a fresh new day ‘Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear, I rise.’
The poem creates many emotions from beginning to end. At the start, the poem makes you feel sad and hurt because the poet is trying to put the image of someone that has just broken up with their ‘thought to be love of their life’ and how he lied to her and how he treated her. But then it starts to feel like your really upset, and the reader will start to feel sympathy because she doesn’t know what she has done wrong. But moving on, she starts to feel proud and confident in herself because she knows that she can and will get over the little speed bump in her life.
This poem is made up of several free verse stanzas, but does not feature enjambment. In the poem, the poet has used many personal pronouns which has helped to give the poem the personal affect and makes the emotions stronger because you can feel what she wants you to be feeling in the words of the poem. ‘Still I rise’ consists of many descriptive words and phrases which helps emphasizes how she is growing strong and ready to come out and strike again. For example, the first line ‘You may write me down in history’ does not actually mean to literally write about her as or in Australian history, or about her lovers history, but the real meaning is that; we may have had something together, and you and I both, even though are not seeing each other any more, will still have memories of one another. This poem also uses a lot of imagery to describe how she is feeling and how she relates what she is thinking into things that we can imagine and then feel. The poetic techniques of similes can be found in the poem ‘But still, like air, I’ll rise,’ and ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise,’ these similes create the imagery of air and dust everywhere slowly or sometimes quickly rising up to the sky. This is stating that sometimes it might be easier to overcome and get over something, but sometimes the process is slower and takes time, therefore slow to rise. The poet has used many rhetorical questions to ask what is wrong with her. But then goes on to explain how even if those things are wrong with her, or if it even affects him, how she still moves on and ‘rises’. This poem is always recited in a steady pace, until stanza 9, when the reader slows to say ‘I rise, I rise, I rise.’ This adds affect to the poem by emphasizing what the whole poem is trying to tell you. The poet has also used the repetition of the words ‘I rise’ and this helps to remind the reader of the message and of the meaning of the words.
In summarization, ‘Still I rise’ by the poet Maya Angelou is successful, as it conveys the meaning of the bad relationship and how even after tough times, she still rises. She has made this poem a success by using the poetic techniques of Imagery (similes, imagery, rhetorical questions) and Language (word choice, personal pronouns).
