Still I Rise, by Maya Angelou

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Still I Rise is one of the best known poems by Maya Angelou; it was the title poem of a collection of hers published in 1978. This is a modern classic celebrating courage, endurance, and hope. In other words, something to treasure, especially in times of despair; because at the end of the day, kindness and a backbone is all that matters. 

 

                                              You may write me down in history
                                              With your bitter, twisted lies,
                                              You may trod 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 backyard.

                                              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.