1. Home >
  2. Arts & Humanities >
  3. Poetry >
  4. Resolved Question
hanksmydog hanksmyd...
Member since:
September 03, 2008
Total points:
844 (Level 2)

Resolved Question

Show me another »

What is the rhyme scheme of the poesm "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou?

What is the Rhyme scheme of the poem "Still I Rise" By Maya Angelou? And how would i show it using the A/B/C formatting

Still I Rise

User Rating:

8.7 /10
(1463 votes)


- vote - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10





E-mail this poem to e friend

Send this poem as eCard

Add this poem to MyPoemList

Print friendly version


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 back yard.

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.

(taken from: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-r… )
  • 2 months ago
classmate by classmat...
A Top Contributor is someone who is knowledgeable in a particular category.
Member since:
November 15, 2007
Total points:
31375 (Level 7)
Badge Image:
A Top Contributor is someone who is knowledgeable in a particular category.
Contributing In:
Poetry
Theater & Acting

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

One convention is to use "x" for lines that don't rhyme with anything. If you choose to use that convention, the rhyme scheme for the first two stanzas would be:

x
a
x
a

x
b
x
b

In stanzas 3 and 4, the second and fourth lines use the same rhyme that the poet uses in stanza 1. So there you have two more xaxa stanzas.

You should be able to take it from there.
  • 2 months ago
100% 1 Vote

There are currently no comments for this question.

Other Answers (1)

Answers International

Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. Click here for the Full Disclaimer.

Help us improve Yahoo! Answers. Send Feedback