Still I Rise | Maya Angelou
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.
For Summary of "Still I Rise", Please click the link 'Summary'
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.
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 hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise
About the Poet:
Maya Angelou was an Afro-American author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer. She published seven volumes of autobiography which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences, three books of essays, and several books of poetry. She is also credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.
About the Poem:
Still I Rise derives its energy from its bold and clear self-assertiveness. Clearly addressed to the white oppressors of black persons, the poem presents us with a black woman willing to speak up for herself, for other living blacks, and even for her black ancestors. The poem is both highly political and highly personal. The poet is implicitly responding to decades and even centuries of oppression and mistreatment.
Multiple Choice Question
1. Maya Angelou is an …………………. Poet.
(a) American - Asian
(b) Indo - African
(c) Afro - American
(d) Asian - African
Ans. (c) Afro - America
2. Maya Angelou is also a/an ………………… .
(a) Actress and singer
(b) Actress and politician
(c) Actress and teacher
(d) Teacher and politician
Ans. (a) Actress and singer
3. Maya Angelou has published …………….. Volumes of her autobiography.
(a) Five
(b) Seven
(c) Nine
(d) Ten
Ans. (b) Seven
4. The poem ‘Still I Rise’ is addressed to …………… .
(a) The people
(b) The blacks
(c) The oppressors
(d) The government
Ans. (c) The oppressors
5. The poem responds to ……………. .
(a) The centuries of friendship and respect to the blacks
(b) The centuries of oppression and mistreatment to the blacks
(c) The centuries of equality shown towards the blacks
(d) The centuries of the struggle black and white
Ans. (b) The centuries of oppression and mistreatment to the blacks
6. The first two lines are about …………… .
(a) The whites
(b) The poet herself
(c) The mistreated
(d) The oppressed
Ans. (d) The oppressed
7. Who is the poet of ‘Still I Rise’?
(a) Maya Angelou
(b) Elizabeth Browning
(c) Nissim Ezekiel
(d) Robert Frost
Ans. (a) Maya Angelou
8. I’ve got oil wells pumping in my living room. This is a perfect example of ……. .
(a) Metaphor
(b) Metonymy
(c) Simile
(d) None
Ans. (c) Simile
9. Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise. History’s shame refers to ……… .
(a) The huts of the poor people
(b) The huts of the common people
(c) The huts of the black people
(d) The huts of street dwellers
Ans. (c) The huts of the black people
10. ‘I’m a black ocean leaping and wide!’ Black ocean refers to the …….. .
(a) Oppressed people
(b) Whites
(c) People of America
(d) The elite people
Ans. (a) Oppressed people
11. ‘Welling and swelling I bear the tide’. The tide here refers to ……. .
(a) Tide in the sea.
(b) The ups and down of the blacks
(c) The difficulties faced by the poet
(d) Both B and C
Ans. (b) The ups and down of the blacks
12. The repetition of the phrase ‘I rise’ suggests ……………. .
(a) She will fight till the end
(b) She will not succumb to oppression
(c) She will keep the dream and hope of the slaves alive
(d) All the above
Ans. (d) All the above
13. Does my ……….. Upset you?
(a) Springing
(b) Sassiness
(c) Haughtiness
(d) Hatefulness
Ans. (b) Sassiness
14. The poet ……….. Like she’s got oil wells pumping in her living room.
(a) Walks
(b) Laughs
(c) Rises
(d) Dreams
Ans. (a) Walks
15. What offends the whites?
(a) Sassiness
(b) Trodding
(c) Soulful cries
(d) Haughtiness
Ans. (d) Haughtiness
16. The poet laughs like …….
(a) She’s got oil wells pumping in her living room
(b) The hopes that spring with the rising sun and rising moon and certainty of tides
(c) She’s got gold mines digging in her own backyard
(d) The shoulders that fall down like teardrops weakened by soulful crises
Ans. (c) She’s got gold mines digging in her own backyard
17. The whites may shoot with their ……. .
(a) Words
(b) Eyes
(c) Cries
(d) Gloom
Ans. (a) Words
18. The whites may kill with their ………… .
(a) Sassiness
(b) Haughtiness
(c) Hatefulness
(d) Teardrops
Ans. (C) Hatefulness
19. The poet will rise like ………..
(a) Dust
(b) Air
(c) Hopes
(d) All of these
Ans. (d) All of these
20. The poet is a …….. Ocean.
(a) Black
(b) Clear
(c) Filthy
(d) Red
Ans. (a) Black
Very helpful mcqs
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