Women's History Month: "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou's uplifting poem affirms the power of resilience, self-love, and joy in the face of oppression. Read the poem here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. twist
    change the meaning of in order to mislead or deceive
    You may write me down in history
    With your bitter, twisted lies
  2. tread
    crush as if by stepping on
    You may trod me in the very dirt
    But still, like dust, I'll rise.
  3. sassy
    improperly forward or bold
    Does my sassiness upset you?
  4. beset
    annoy continually or chronically
    Why are you beset with gloom?
  5. gloom
    an atmosphere of depression and sadness
    Why are you beset with gloom?
  6. tide
    the periodic rise and fall of the sea level
    Just like moons and like suns,
    With the certainty of tides,
    Just like hopes springing high,
    Still I'll rise.
  7. soulful
    filled with or expressing deep emotion
    Did you want to see me broken?
    Bowed head and lowered eyes?
    Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
    Weakened by my soulful cries?
  8. haughtiness
    overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner
    Does my haughtiness offend you?
  9. offend
    cause to feel resentment or indignation
    Does my haughtiness offend you?
  10. mine
    excavation from which ores and minerals are extracted
    Don't you take it awful hard
    ’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
    Diggin’ in my own backyard.
  11. root
    the place where something begins
    Out of the huts of history’s shame
    I rise
    Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
    I rise
  12. leap
    move forward by bounds
    I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
    Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
  13. swell
    a rising and falling movement of the surface of the sea
    I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
    Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
  14. wondrous
    extraordinarily good or great
    Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
    I rise
  15. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended
    Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
    I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
Created on Fri Nov 17 13:46:28 EST 2017 (updated Fri Jun 24 14:26:19 EDT 2022)

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