Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” is a very powerful poem that can be interpreted in several ways. One person may read this poem and believe that Angelou is not only the author but is the speaker and will interpret the context differently than a reader who believes that the speaker is not Angelou. A reader believing that the speaker is not Angelou will take several things from this poem. One concept that is very noticeable in this poem is that the speaker wants women to know that no matter what problems one has faced throughout the years, one may still succeed in many ways.
The speaker of this poem shows something different in each of her stanzas and this poem can be looked at in several ways. The reader may relate to it as a woman, or the poem relates to African-Americans that have been faced with slavery. In the first stanza the speaker talks about her relationship with history, and her body’s relationship with the earth. She talks about how the body can be beaten down into the ground but will decompose and turn into the earth just as soil and dust do, meaning that our bodies are just flesh but our spirit is what keeps us alive and going once our flesh has been damaged. The second stanza shows you that you can carry yourself in a positive manner even though you may not be perfect or have everything you want.
In the third stanza the speaker uses similes to get a point across. The speaker related her attitude with the certainty of nature, and explained how nature and people’s hopes are certain facts that will never end. In lines nine through twelve she talks about how the sun will always rise just like the moons, and just like the tides and people’s hopes will always rise. In the three middle stanzas the speaker seems to be saying, “I did, I can, and I will overcome whatever adversity I am faced with.” While reading this poem the reader can conclude that the speaker is definitely a woman.
Throughout the whole poem there are different sayings that allow the...