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

　　Pumping2） 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 haughtiness3） 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 thighs4）？

　　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.

　　beset¹ v. 困扰

　　pumping vt. 泵抽水

　　haughtiness² n. 傲慢， 不逊

　　thigh³ n. 大腿， 股

　　wondrously⁵ adv. 惊奇地，非常，极其