Angelou constructs "Still I Rise" utilizing informal diction as a means of linking to the history of her ancestors and showing the innate power through the connection.
Near the end of the poem, the speaker of this poem (presumably Angelou speaking as herself) powerfully states that she has risen "out of the huts of history's shame." She is referring to the enslavement of her ancestors in America; as such, she connects to the ways her ancestors were oppressed. Slaves were almost always kept intentionally illiterate with most slave owners fearful of the power of slave literacy. In order to connect with this idea of oppression, Angelou crafts diction that relies on informal, casual wording and phrasing such as 'cause and diggin'. Her powerful metaphors utilize common comparisons that would have been understandable to any slave: dust, air, and backyard.
The diction in the following stanza also connects to the common fears and horrors of her ancestors:
You may shoot me with your words,You may cut me with your eyes,You may kill me with your hatefulness,
(emphasis added)
The phrasing here intentionally reflects the experience of her ancestors. Yet she shows that they survived so that she could survive. Because of their strength, she has been gifted with equal strength.
The speaker is notably strong, yet she also conveys the attitude of a powerfully confident woman in this stanza:
Does my sexiness upset you?Does it come as a surpriseThat I dance like I've got diamondsAt the meeting of my thighs?
The diction of the poem continually points the reader to the history behind the speaker, one that provides ongoing strength to overcome any obstacle, just as her ancestors have done before her. As such, the speaker is confidently "the dream and the hope of the slave" and will continue to "rise" over all adversity.
The speaker's attitude in Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise," is both triumphant and provocative. The speaker is someone who has overcome a long history of being oppressed by who the speaker addresses as "you." Since the poem is in second person, the reader is put in the speaker's perspective. Angelou wants the reader to feel the speaker's intensity and determination. Attitude and tone have a symbiotic relationship. The speaker's attitude affects the overall tone of the poem.
If we examine the speaker's diction, her attitude becomes more clear. In the second stanza, the word "sassiness" juxtaposed with the "gloom" of the poem's "you," emphasizes her teasing and confident air. The speaker goes even further than the second stanza's "sassiness" in the seventh stanza: "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?" While challenging and provoking "you," the speaker reminds us that blackness is also "sexiness." In the first stanza, she goes from being "trod" on, to having a "walk like I've got oil wells" in the second stanza, to a full-out "dance" in the seventh stanza. Indeed, she rises! Despite the long history of racism and oppression, the "diamonds" in the seventh stanza indicate that the speaker believes she carries great value, and also that she has something of immense worth, hard to find as diamonds—unabashed perseverance and hope. The aforementioned "oil wells," along with the "gold mines" in the fifth stanza, are all examples of diction that demonstrate how rich the speaker is in her own tenacity.
Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise" was written in 1978. In it, the speaker's use of diction and tone create a work which calls readers to confront our country's current and past racism. The speaker's assertiveness presents a brave affront to those who have persecuted her, and people like her.
Following are two examples in which the tone, or attitude, Maya Angelou uses in the poem develop the ideas aforementioned.
1. In the first stanza, the speaker presents a challenge to the reader. The speaker says that no matter what lies are told about her, or what persecution she faces, she will still rise. She will not be kept down by people's opinions or actions.
"You may write me down in historyWith your bitter, twisted lies,You may tread me in the very dirtBut still, like dust, I'll rise."
2. In the second stanza, the speaker in the poem offers a sarcastic question, asking if the way in which she carries herself upsets the reader. The speaker compares her carriage to someone who knows they own a vast treasure.
"Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wellsPumping in my living room."
Maya Angelou's use of different types of diction in this poem help create the effect of the poem, in which the reader is challenged by the speaker, and also cheering the speaker on. Here are five examples of diction in this poem:
1. Angelou uses colloquial diction in several stanzas of the poem. Stanza five contains several colloquialisms:
"Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard'Cause I laugh like I've got gold minesDiggin' in my own back yard."
the use of the words "awful hard", the shortened version of because, and the form of "diggin'" all help the reader form a connection with the speaker in the poem. It gives the poem a sense of realness that helps us to identify with, and root for the speaker of the poem. It takes the tone from arrogant to self-assured.
2. In several other stanzas, Angelou switches to a more formal type of diction. Consider the third stanza of the poem:
"Just like moons and like suns,With the certainty of tides,Just like hopes springing high,Still I'll rise."
Gone are the colloquialisms in this stanza. Her use of celestial bodies and natural forces that cannot be contained suggest a strength of purpose. It lets the reader know that the speaker is serious about her perseverance through difficulty.
3. In the opening stanza, Angelou chose words with negative connotations to express the pervasive nature of the persecution she was describing. Her use of the words "bitter" and twisted" when describing the lies recorded in history suggest a perverseness and anger that is deep seeded.
4. Angelou's use of the word "sassiness" in the second stanza carries an almost playful connotation. Sassy is often a quality that is admired in others. It is not usually considered a character flaw. It is a term used to describe someone who has spunk and is self-possessed.
5. In the last stanza of the poem, the speaker compares herself to an ocean that wells up and swells. It is a metaphor for strength. Her declaration that she will rise up out of a painful past, out of the indignities her ancestors suffered, and that she will rise above it all is an anthem for perseverance and self-confidence. Her repetition of the words I rise at the end become a mantra for her determination.
"Out of the huts of history's shameI riseUp from a past that's rooted in painI riseI'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.Leaving behind nights of terror and fearI riseInto a daybreak that's wondrously clearI riseBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,I am the dream and the hope of the slave.I riseI riseI rise."
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