My Review of And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

My review of the audiobook version of the most famous volume of poetry by the late Dr. Maya Angelou. One of my favorite poets and poetry-reciters I knew when I came across this audiobook that I had to have it. As great as reading her is, listening to her is almost-better. This review is light on critical analyzes, but was my excuse to post her poems publicly.

And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Hate often is confused. Its
Limits are in zones beyond itself. And
Sadists will not learn that
Love, by nature, exacts a pain
Unequalled on the rack. - Second stanza of "A Kind of Love, Some Say"


One of my favorite poets and one of her best collections. Reading Maya Angelou is great, but listening to her is better. I am always put into a better state of mind with her words. Dr. Angelou was one one of the great multi-talented writers of the 20th century as a playwright, poet, actress, and memiorist. Though her most celebrated work is her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she considered herself a poet first. She wrote over 11 volumes of poetry, but this may be her most famous volume. It contains some of her most quoted poems (including the title poem) and has been a consistently anthologized book.

On Aging

When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don’t think I need your chattering.
I’m listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise I’ll do without it!
When my bones are stiff and aching,
And my feet won’t climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don’t bring me no rocking chair.
When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don’t study and get it wrong.
‘Cause tired don’t mean lazy
And every goodbye ain’t gone.
I’m the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

This audiobook is a bit of a mystery to me as it was recorded some time between the 1990s and the 2000s and only contains 13 of the 32 poems found in the actual printed book (leaving out--for instances--a poem like Phenomenal Woman). Still the poems included-in are great and we get to hear Dr. Angelou's great ability as a storyteller and reciter on full display. One bonus we do have is commentary in which she tells the story behind some of the poems and what she was aiming for or how she felt she missed the mark in one place so she included another poem to make-up for it.

Ain't That Bad

Dancin' the funky chicken
Eatin' ribs and tips
Diggin' all the latest sounds
And drinkin' gin in sips.

Puttin' down that do-rag
Tighten' up my 'fro
Wrappin' up in Blackness
Don't I shine and glow?

Hearin' Stevie Wonder
Cookin' beans and rice
Goin' to the opera
Checkin' out Leontyne Price.

Get down, Jesse Jackson
Dance on, Alvin Ailey
Talk, Miss Barbara Jordan
Groove, Miss Pearlie Bailey.

Now ain't they bad?
An ain't they Black?
An ain't they Black?
An' ain't they Bad?
An ain't they bad?
An' ain't they Black?
An' ain't they fine?

Black like the hour of the night
When your love turns and wriggles close to your side
Black as the earth which has given birth
To nations, and when all else is gone will abide.

Bad as the storm that leaps raging from the heavens
Bringing the welcome rain
Bad as the sun burning orange hot at midday
Lifting the waters again.

Arthur Ashe on the tennis court
Mohammed Ali in the ring
Andre Watts and Andrew Young
Black men doing their thing.

Dressing in purples and pinks and greens
Exotic as rum and Cokes
Living our lives with flash and style
Ain't we colorful folks?

Now ain't we bad?
An' ain't we Black?
An' ain't we Black?
An' ain't we bad?
An' ain't we bad?
An' ain't we Black?
An' ain't we fine?

One of the reasons I was glad to have the audiobook was to have the poet's insight on the rhyme and rhythm of the poem. I think you can use meter to an extant when reading this book, but you gain a lot of priceless context in hearing how the poet imagines her piece to what the piece's meaning is. This book explores a lot of the inner life of people--their dignity in the face of hard times or good times. It is a volume of poetry that seems to come from an ancient place of the psyche, but a modern or everlasting message--at least to me.

"You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.

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