But Still Like Air I Ll Rise Poem Analysis

The poem dramatizes the conflict of how African Americans are ridiculed and hated by white people, particularly women. The speaker discusses the harsh situations they have encountered and explains how they continued to stay high-spirited during those times. For example, the speaker says “You may kill me with your hatefulness,” following this harsh situation the speaker then says, “But still, like air, I 'll rise.” The speaker utilizes this technique throughout the poem to explain to their audience that they should remain strong in bad situations. The speaker also explores the idea that black women can still be sensual to white men even though they are hated by them or seen as inferior to them. The speaker says “Does my sexiness upset you?” …show more content…
The poem includes seven quatrains. In each of these quatrains two of the lines rhyme. For example, the rhyme scheme of the first stanza is ABCB. This rhyme scheme is continued throughout the entire poem. This simple addition to the poem aids in the overall rhythm of the poem. The speaker uses words with similar sounds and meaning. For example, the speaker uses the words sassiness, haughtiness, hatefulness, and sexiness. All of these words have different meaning however they do sound the same. This use of consonance makes them poem sound more powerful when it is read …show more content…
The first letter in every line is capitalized and nearly all of the lines end in some type of punctuation. Not only does the simple addition make the poem seem more formal it also adds more emphasis to the beginning of each line. This addition may also give the audience insight on the speaker. There also several other aspects of the poem that gives the audience insight on the speaker. For instance when reading the poem you may notice that is free from many grammatical errors, there is a wide range of vocabulary used, and the usage of several stylistic devices suggest that the writer may be somewhat educated. The speaker says, “I am the dream and the hope of the slave.” I believe that this exact line suggest that the speaker may be educated. I think it suggests this because when the speaker says that they are the hope of the slave that would suggest that they possess something that most of the slaves don’t have which could possibly be education. The speaker being educated may explain why they are so confident and why they don’t allow people to treat them like