Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

A poem isn't just a poem, sometimes they have a meaning that is important and they relate to something that happen in their past. Other time they don't have anything to do with anything. A poem that has a meaning is "Still I Rise." It was written in 1978 by the famous poet named Maya Angelou. This poem is an excellent poem because for many reasons, but there are three that are good and that make a poem a poem one, good sound, two, images, three, new perspective.

One of the things that make a good poem is the sound. The things that make sound is rhyme. One example of rhyme in this poem are, "Leaving behind nights of terror and fear i rise, into a daybreak that's wondrously clear i rise." In these two lines the words that rhyme are "fear and clear." Another example of rhyme in this poem is "Bringing the gift that my ancestor gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave." In these line the words that rhyme are "gave and slave." Another thing that makes a poem sound good is alliteration. An example that i found in this poem is "I am a black ocean leaping and wide welling and swelling." Here in this example the two words that alliteration are "welling and swelling." this counts as alliteration because the repeating sound is the "welling sound." Then, "Why are you baset with gloom? Pumping in my living room. The repeating sound is "oom" Finally, the last example of a sound is repetition. One line that repeats throughout the poem is " I Rise." Then, at the end of some of the stanzas it states "but like dust i rise." although the word after like changes its still repetition.

This poem is good because it gives you something to think about. By this I mean that it has very clear images. One image that you can see is history being made. In the first sentence of the poem it says "You may write me down in history." For me this means that she did something important and she is getting recognized. Next, " Out of the huts of history's shame." The image that is being shown here is that what she did was shameful and wasn't made for history but then rise and overcomes it. Another example of image that this poem has is that it shows a hero. When it says "I am the hope and dream of the slave." This mean that she was there for the slaves and never gave her back to them. Lastly, in the poem "You may kill me with your hatefulness, but still like air I'll rise." This mean that she wasn't going to let anyone get in her way and overcome it and go back and try again. The last image that comes to mind is a person that will never give up. in the first stanza it Say's "You may trod me in the very dirt but still like dust I'll rise" This means that she could be put down and she will still shine. Also in this line" You may shoot me with your words." I like this one because it means that words couldn't get to her and she didn't care.

One more reason that "Still I Rise is a good poem is because it gives you a new perspective. One way that you can get a new perspective is with a simile. one example of a simile is "tides just like hops springing high." this is a simile because it is comparing two things. Then another example is "Shoulders falling like a teardrops" This shows that when you cry the tears falls like your teardrops on your face. Another way that you can get a new perspectives with a personification. "You may cut me with your eyes" is an example because your eyes can cut people. In addition, "You may shoot me with your words." This one is good because you can't shoot people with words you can yell at them but not shoot them. Finally, irony is the last one. One example of irony is taste."with your bitter, twisted lies" here you can taste the dirty lies that someone was saying. Then with irony you can see. "'cause i walk like I've got oil wells." you can see someone walking with oil.

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou falls under an excellent poem because of sound, images, and because it gives you a new perspective of something.This poem has good sound because of rhyme, alliteration and repetition. Images because you can see a hero, history, and a person not giving up. New perspective because of simile, personification, and irony. "Still I Rise" made me think very differently because I didn't think that a person was always getting put down by people but she found the fate and always get back up and defend on what she believes in.