Question

What is the rhyme scheme for "Still I Rise" by Maya Angleou?

Answer 1

The rhyme scheme starts off as 'A-B-C-B' until the last two verses where it changes to 'A-B-A-B-C-C' and the again for the last verse where it changes to 'A-B-A-B-C-C-B-B-B'.

Explanation:

You may write me down in history (A)
With your bitter, twisted lies, (B)
You may trod me in the very dirt (C)
But still, like dust, I'll rise. (B)

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom? (See verse 1 rhyme scheme)
’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, (See verse 1)
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes? (See verse 1)
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard. (See verse 1)
’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, (See verse 1)
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. (See verse 1)
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame (A)
I rise (B)
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain (A)
I rise (B)
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, (C)
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. (C)

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear (A)
I rise (B)
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear (A)
I rise (B)
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave (C)
I am the dream and the hope of the slave (C)
I rise (B)
I rise (B)
I rise. (B)