The poem “Still I Rise” is about the African-American author who lived through some awful times of inequality. She wrote this poem about how she would rise above society's viewpoint on her. Maya Angelou’s tone of this poem was defiant. She was proud to be an African-American and wasn't going to let the color of her skin stop her from succeeding. The author used different types of figurative language including simile, personification, metaphor, and repetition. An example of simile being used in the poem is “Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.” An example of personification is “ You may cut me with your eyes.” An example of a metaphor is “I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.”
