Poem: You may right me down in history

 

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.

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.

The speaker of the poem is the poet herself, as she talks about her experiences throughout her life. The audience of the poem, or who does the poet want to address in this poem, is probably 'life' itself, or more specifically, life, which throws her different tribulations or challenges throughout her life. The theme of this poem is life experience. The experience that the poet gained as she faced different problems in her life is stated implicitly. The poem's structure is a straight-forward one that gets its logical conclusion in which, no matter what the challenge is, she rise and face it. The poem is organized as nine stanzas as a whole, with four lines per stanza except for the last stanza, which had seven lines. Each stanza shows the different ways that 'life' used to challenge her. The poem's rhyme scheme is ABAB in some stanzas and AABB in the other stanzas. The rhymes in the poem put an emphasis on her duel with 'life' in a creative way. Some lines in the poem end with the completion of a thought, while other lines in a stanza flow without a pause. In every quatrain of the poem, there is an enjambment that occurs. I would characterize the diction of the poem as informal. The word choice of the poet isn't formal; it was like she was talking with an old pal, who has been with her since her childhood. Thanks to this, the poem is easy to get a response from the readers, as you can relate to it. The poet uses simile, metaphor, and symbolism to develop images in the poem. The images are a bit obvious in a way that you'll spot them as soon as you see the line. This image contributes to the poem's theme by clearly illustrating how she overcomes the trials given by 'life'. As far as I know about the phone, I don't really see evidence of using repetition, alliteration, or any other sounding effects in the poem. There was a significance to the placement of the words, and the rhythm of the last line of the poem is noteworthy as it really emphasizes that whatever trials and setbacks the poet faces, she will rise again and again to face them. I don't really see any significance in the capitalization and punctuation, as they were just used in a normal way, not unusual at all. Some words are spelled that way to get a rhyme scheme.