“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
“Just like moons and like suns,
with the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
still I’ll rise.” (Angelou 9-12)
The stanza is about hope, resilience, struggle, perseverance, and determination to rise high and gain liberty and enlightenment. Maya Angelou is an American civil rights activist, and the poem “And Still I Rise” is a publication of the year 1978, which represents the feelings of suppressed communities struggling to gain equal rights in the United States. The second line of the 9-10 stanza, ‘with the certainty of tides,’ is the last of two lines and follows a rhythmic pattern, which exists in line 12, ‘still, I’ll rise.’ The pattern explains the meaning of the lines, separated with another line, and still means to express, that is, ‘with the certainty of tides … still I’ll rise.’ However, both the pair of lines also express their individual meanings of expressing the emotional height of hope and resilience. Generally, the poem highlights the struggle of Americans during the 1970s, when the poem was published, and explains the assertion of resilience and dignity despite the odds of systematic oppression. The poet expresses belief and faith in the struggle and morals, which equates to the certainty of tides ‘… moon and like suns.’ Furthermore, the poet highlights the unique sentiment of ‘hope’ in the face of systematic oppression of African Americans for centuries, although he does not mention it specifically. ‘Still, I Rise’ is a poem that reflects the emotional state of an individual or a community with respect to the struggle for morals, culture, and rights. The poetry gives a ‘goose bump’ to the reader and makes them feel the hope, resilience, and determination that are reflected in the poetic formation. The beauty of this poem lies in sharing the feelings of a group but with respect to a personal level, whereby the individual members get the chance to enjoy the shared idea of ‘hope’ and ‘resistance’ at the commune level.
Works Cited
Maya Angelou. “Still I Rise.” Poetry Foundation, 2019, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise.
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