编者按：Maya Angelou是美国文坛最耀眼的黑人女作家和诗人，成名作是一部名为I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings的自传体小说。1993年她在美国总统Bill Clinton的就职仪式上特邀朗诵献诗On the Pulse of the Morning，从而成为美国历史上继Robert Frost之后的官方诗人。

　　Still I Rise是Maya Angelou的诗歌代表作，是继Martin Luther King的I Have a Dream之后美国黑人争取民权的又一纪念碑式的作品。

　　Still I Rise（我仍将奋起）

　　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 beset¹ 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 haughtiness² 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 thighs³？

　　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 swelling⁴ I bear in the tide.

　　Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

　　I rise

　　Into a daybreak that‘s wondrously⁵ clear

　　I rise

　　Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave，

　　I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

　　I rise.