Maya Angelou Still I Rise Essay

Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Johnson, is probably the most well-known poet of the past generation. Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and lived in Long Beach, California, but primarily grew up in Stamps, Arkansas, where she was raised by her grandmother (Biography, no p.). At an early age, Angelou already faced many hardships, including being sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend, which rendered her mute for a portion of her childhood. Angelou used her life’s experiences, along with other inspirations, to influence her writing, which is apparent in the complexities of her themes and tones. Her honesty and raw emotion, whether speaking of slavery, women’s empowerment, or the struggle of life itself, shows through in Angelou’s use of …show more content…
Both poems show transition from self-pity and loathing to a better state of mind. While better, the speaker’s mood cannot necessarily be described as joyful. The same is true for Angelou’s “Caged Bird.” Angelou describes a free bird and a caged bird in alternating stanzas, with the refrain connecting herself to the caged bird. This poem, which is an allusion to Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy,” (Still I Rise Analysis, no p.), does not end happily, because at the conclusion of the work, the aforementioned caged bird is still imprisoned. The bird’s cage is said to be made of “bars of rage” (11) and even if he manages to break out or of them (both the physical bars and those of his anger), his wings are clipped. This paints a seemingly hopeless picture, making the reader feel emphatically for the bird. Angelou gives the reader, the bird, and perhaps herself, hope with the bird’s song. The song that the caged bird sings is one of imagination and longing, saying that the bird will never be free of his cage, but he is free to sing. This is symbolic of overcoming, or at the very least, adapting, to one’s own