STILL I RISE
by Maya Angelou
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 backyard.
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.
MI RIALZO ANCORA
Puoi denigrarmi nella storia
con le tue bugie amare e contorte,
puoi calpestarmi nella sporcizia per terra
ma come la polvere, io mi rialzerò
La mia impertinenza ti infastidisce?
Perché sei assillato dallo sconforto?
Perché io cammino come se avessi dei pozzi di petrolio
che pompano nel mio soggiorno.
Proprio come le lune e come i soli,
con la certezza delle maree,
proprio come le speranze che balzano in alto,
io mi rialzerò.
Volevi vedermi distrutta?
A testa china e con gli occhi bassi?
Spalle cadenti come lacrime,
indebolita dai miei pianti patetici?
La mia arroganza ti offende?
Non prendertela troppo a male
perché io rido come se avessi delle miniere d’oro
scavate nel mio cortile.
Puoi colpirmi con le tue parole,
puoi trafiggermi con lo sguardo
puoi uccidermi con il tuo odio,
ma, come l’aria, mi alzerò ancora.
La mia sensualità ti disturba?
Ti coglie di una sorpresa
che io balli come se avessi dei diamanti
alla confluenza delle mie cosce?
Dalle capanne dell’ignominia della storia
io mi rialzo.
Da un passato radicato nel dolore
io mi rialzo.
Sono un oceano nero, impetuoso e vasto,
e mentre trabocco e mi gonfio resisto all’ondata della marea.
Lasciandomi dietro notti di terrore e paura
io mi rialzo.
In un nuovo giorno meravigliosamente chiaro
io mi rialzo.
Portando i doni che i miei antenati hanno lasciato,
sono il sogno e la speranza dello schiavo.
Io mi rialzo.
Mi rialzo.
Mi rialzo.
(L.Z.)
nice
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I’m really glad you like this poem
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So powerful.
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… and effective
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Absolutely powerful and revolutionary thoughts.
Best!
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Thank you for your kind comment
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My pleasure 😇
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This is a great poem and a great statement by an African-American woman in the United States. Great choice…mi piace bene e grazie mille Luisa!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this poem
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Enjoyed it greatly especially because it about pride and standing up and defending who you are in front of those who would despise you for it. Loved it!
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I totally agree with you.
Thanks for letting me know your appreciation
🌺🌺🌺
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You are very welcome!
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🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
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Très beau poème !
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Vrai❣❣❣
Merci beaucoup
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Very powerful poem.
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Yes, wonderful
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
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I totally agree with you.
Thanks for letting me know your appreciation
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Never read Maya Angelou. (I know, I know, I’ll get therapy).
So, thank you for those words,
“I rise” echoes, Pete Seeger’s “We shall overcome…”
(Where have they all gone??? Help!)
😉
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You are right. Today my lesson at the University for the Third Age, following that on Angelou, was on We Shall Overcome.
Telepathy…?
😉😊❤
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Possibly. Or a logical step? ❤
(Hopefully we shall overcome. Some day) 😉
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😉😆🥰🥰🥰
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ON PSYCHODYNAMICS
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
Some Folk ARE in Our 3DLives for a Reason whether Bad or Good, Some Folk for a Season During a Phase in Our 3DLives and The Most Special Folk for Our 3DLifeTimes and this is why Awareness of When to Hold On and When to Let Go is so important; for Example:
◇ Attached=Clingy, Needy, Resentful
◇ UnAttached=Accepting, Peaceful, Understanding
◇ Detached=Self Serving, Psychopathic, UnForgiving
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
ON SNARLING AND SMILING
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
◇ If You Have Ever Experienced a Smile Turn On A Dime in to a Snarl and find YourSelf Being Blamed by Another You ARE Most Definitely NOT!!! Alone EveryOne; there ARE Many Charmers with Ulterior Motives Who Get Upset, Really Raging, when Sussed Out, Found Out, Exposed for Their Falsehoods, Fakeries and Fraudulence
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
ON HAIKU
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
◇ 3DLife
SomeThing then NoThing
NoThing then SomeThing
In Between BalanceThing
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
ON PROCESSING TRAUMA
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
◇ Violence Solves Nothing, If You Claim to Never Have Experienced The Pain of Psychological Violence then You ARE Lucky and Fortunate or a Damn, Fucking Liar in Denial; if You Admit, Acknowledge And Then Address Your MMHI (Multiple Mental Health Issues) You WILL!!! Heal or OtherWise Drift Off in to Dotty Old Age Along with Other Sad, Grumpy Old Folk 😵😡😠
◇ – Diamond Hard – ◇
…◇◇◇…
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It is a poem that makes the youth more vivacious and I love it too
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Thank you very much! I am happy that you liked it!
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