英语美文：英文诗歌Still I Rise

 《我仍将奋起》玛娅.安吉罗的代表作，被制作成了公益广告，多年来不断在美国各大电视台上播放，为广大电视观众所耳濡目染。这首诗歌作品是继马丁。路德。金的著名讲演《我有一个梦想》之后，美国黑人争取民权运动的又一重要代表作。跟其他的电视广告词一样，它被人们背的滚瓜烂熟。

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 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 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

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。

1 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

2 haughtiness   

n.傲慢；傲气

参考例句：

• Haughtiness invites disaster,humility receives benefit. 满招损，谦受益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Finally he came to realize it was his haughtiness that held people off. 他终于意识到是他的傲慢态度使人不敢同他接近。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

5 wondrously   

adv.惊奇地，非常，极其

参考例句：

• She grow wondrously fond of stealing off to corners by herself. 她变得出奇地喜欢独自躲在角落里。 来自辞典例句
• If you but smile, spring zephyrs blow through my spirits, wondrously. 假使你只是仅仅对我微笑，春天的和风就会惊奇的吹过我的心灵间。 来自互联网