These phrases are found in verses 2, 5, and 7 of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise.” To add a further bit of context, the narrator says, “I walk like I’ve got oil wells/Pumping in my living room,” “I laugh like I’ve got gold mines/Digging in my own backyard,” and “I dance like I’ve got diamonds/At the meeting of my thighs.”
These images – oil wells, gold mines, diamonds – are all representations of monetary wealth. The speaker comports herself as though she were the possessor of all these things – that is, as though she were filthy rich. Despite the fact that she has been “trod[den]…in the very dirt,” that she and her ancestors have been oppressed and insulted and hurt, she is not bowed, and certainly not broken. Despite these things, she repeats, “still I rise.” She bounces back with exceptional confidence, she holds her head up high and assumes an air of “haughtiness,” as though she were the most privileged person in the world. She will not let injustice defeat her, but will come back stronger at every turn. And it is this strength and confidence that is emphasized in the repetition of the lines you have quoted in your question. Even though the speaker may not be wealthy, financially, she is equally as well-off spiritually – she has life, and sass, and confidence. She has beauty and strength and determination. And in the end, these things are greater and more powerful than any quantifiable fortune generated by oil wells or mines.
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