Throughout the poem "Still I Rise," Maya Angelou compares her hope to several different things, each adding meaning to the poem. While the entire poem is about the hope of a black woman constantly attacked, Angelou uses two specific metaphors here. Before discussing the specific similes, however, it's important to discuss the reason why poets use figurative language. That reason is two-fold:
- To provide a visual analogy for an intangible thing.
- To bring out some...
Throughout the poem "Still I Rise," Maya Angelou compares her hope to several different things, each adding meaning to the poem. While the entire poem is about the hope of a black woman constantly attacked, Angelou uses two specific metaphors here. Before discussing the specific similes, however, it's important to discuss the reason why poets use figurative language. That reason is two-fold:
- To provide a visual analogy for an intangible thing.
- To bring out some emotion in the reader.
In this poem, Angelou writes:
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise.
This comparison of hope to the moon, sun, and tides provides this idea of the cyclical nature of hope. With every low, there will be a high. For every night, there will be a daytime. So, for every moment of hopelessness, there will be a moment of hope.
In the poem's last stanza, the speaker says she is "the dream and the hope of the slave." This metaphor is interesting because Angelou again provides major contrasts. Like she did earlier with the sun and the moon, she discusses the idea of the slaves and contrasts that with the idea of freedom that she will achieve for herself.
These two devices provide the poem with its inspirational tone. The speaker discusses the attacks she suffers and how she fights through each to end up rising above.
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