Poems
Still I RiseMaya Angelou, 1928 - 2014You 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.
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.
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.
Short Response:
This poem from Maya Angelou is a very powerful statement against racism.It creates an emotional attachment.When she says,”You may kill me with your hatefulness,but still,like air,I rise.”Meaning no matter how hard you try to hurt her she will always get back from the ground.
DreamsLangston Hughes, 1902 - 1967Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Short Response: Langston Hughes,who was a key player in the Harlem Renaissance says,”Hold fast to dreams,for if dreams die,life is a broken-winged bird.”He’s saying don’t give up because when you give up life has no meaning,because a bird without flight will die.
These two poets have one thing in common,they want equality and freedom.Maya says,”I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”What she is saying is the freedoms that she was given is those of her ancestors who were the first to fight for their freedoms.And Langston Hughes says,”For when dreams go,Life is a barren field,Frozen with snow.”Meaning if people would have given up on their dreams none of the things like integration and equal rights for all people wouldn't exist.These poems are for all the people who went and fought for their freedom.
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 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.
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.
Short Response:
This poem from Maya Angelou is a very powerful statement against racism.It creates an emotional attachment.When she says,”You may kill me with your hatefulness,but still,like air,I rise.”Meaning no matter how hard you try to hurt her she will always get back from the ground.
DreamsLangston Hughes, 1902 - 1967Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Short Response: Langston Hughes,who was a key player in the Harlem Renaissance says,”Hold fast to dreams,for if dreams die,life is a broken-winged bird.”He’s saying don’t give up because when you give up life has no meaning,because a bird without flight will die.
These two poets have one thing in common,they want equality and freedom.Maya says,”I am the dream and the hope of the slave.”What she is saying is the freedoms that she was given is those of her ancestors who were the first to fight for their freedoms.And Langston Hughes says,”For when dreams go,Life is a barren field,Frozen with snow.”Meaning if people would have given up on their dreams none of the things like integration and equal rights for all people wouldn't exist.These poems are for all the people who went and fought for their freedom.