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 back yard.

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.

玛娅.安吉罗(Maya Angelou1928-)无疑是在美国文坛上最走红，或在社会中知名度最高的诗人。作为社会活动家、演员、剧作家、作家和诗人，她是在媒体上出现最频繁的美国黑人之一。1975年她获《女人之家》杂志该年度最佳女性奖。她先后出版了10部畅销书，并被多次提名普利策奖和国家图书奖。许多大学授予了她名誉博士学位。卡特总统曾任命她为国际妇女年全国执行委员会主席。福特总统也曾任命她主持美国百年国庆特别委员会。1993年，在克林顿总统的就职仪式上，玛娅.安吉罗作为桂冠诗人朗诵了她的颂诗。