I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
by Emily Dickinson.
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us - don't tell!
They'd advertise - you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history- Maya Angelou
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 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.
This poem is written with Maya Angelou herself as the
speaker. She is speaking to her audience of oppressors about how she has
overcome racism, criticism, sexism, and personal obstacles in her life with
pride and grace. This poem is historically rooted with the mentions of slavery,
a “past of pain,” and “gifts of ancestors,” however she is speaking in the
present having overcome all of the hardships of her past and embarking on the
rest of her journey with the knowledge that she is a strong African American
woman. Still I Rise is about overcoming oppression with grace and pride, having
no sympathy for the oppressors and giving to validity to the reasons for
oppression.
There is rhyme every other line for most of the poem that
immediately guides the reader through the poem. The phrases “I rise” and “Still
I rise” are used repetetively throughout the poem to show that the speaker
continues to overcome each situation of oppression and each oppressor. Imagery
is dominant in this poem, especially after Angelou questions her oppressors.
She gives the us images like “I walk like I’ve got oil wells /Pumping in my
living room” and “Shoulders falling down like teardrops” and ” I dance like
I’ve got diamonds/ At the meeting of my thighs.” There is also the repeating image
of air and dust rising. Much of her imagery is conveyed through similes and
metaphors. This usuage of figurative languages gives us a very clear picture of
what Angelou means and usually conveys a strong emotion. For example, when
Angelou says “Shoulders falling down like teardrops,” we get an image of
drooping shoulders (like the shape of a tear) and the tear itself is
immediately associated with sadness. The two of these combined makes the images
even stronger. The poem is more a narrative than anything else because Angelou
interacts with her audience as she talks about the highs and lows of her life
and history.
The main symbol throughout the poem is that of rising dust.
For dust to rise, it must be unsettled from the ground in some way and then forms
a dust cloud. But once the dust has been unsettled from the ground, it can
leave and RISE. This can be applied to Angelou’s overcome of the obstacles and
her oppressors on the “ground” and rising above them all, unsettling and
challenging the oppression.
This poem has a very certain seriousness to it, but Angelou
brings in her pride as an African American woman and injects playful images
into the poem when questioning her oppressors. The stanzas that have questions
show the direct relationship between the speaker and the audience, Angelou and
her oppressors, and allows the reader to put themselves in the heat of the
discussion and in the heart of the poem. The tone is one of sureness, pride,
and grace.
This online analysis says that the “you” that the poem is
speaking to is the white race and that the “I” is the black race. This analysis
says that the poem is a discussion between black and white, where the black,
with Maya Angelou speaking, is taking pride in her heritage and what she has
come from and intimidating the white race. This analysis says that “Maya is
pretentiously assuring the audience that she will ‘rise” to any occasion and
her color won’t hold her back.” After reading this analysis, I agree with the
“you” being the white race. I thought before that the “you” had been specific
to her own life, but this interpretation makes sense with the multiple
references to slavery.
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