You may write me down in history
Potes describere me ^(down)9 in historia

With your bitter, twisted lies,
Cum tuis acerbis, convolutis mendaciis,

You may trod me in the very dirt
You may)9 Potes calcare me in ^(the)9 ipso caeno

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Sed nihilominus, sicut pulvis, ^(I’ll)9 surgam.
¶

Does my sassiness upset you?
^(Does)9 Nonne mea impudentia conturbat te?

Why are you beset with gloom?
Cur ^{(are you)9} vexaris ^(with)9 tristitia?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Quod ^(I)9 ambulo quasi ^(I’ve)9 habeam olei puteos

Pumping in my living room.
Exhaurientes in meo exedrio.
¶

Just like moons and like suns,
Sic ut lunae et soles,

With the certainty of tides,
Cum ^(the)9 certitudine ^(of)9 aestuum,

Just like hopes springing high,
Sic ut spes alte salientes,

Still I’ll rise.
Nihilominus ^(I’ll)9 surgam.
¶

Did you want to see me broken?
^{(Did you)9} Nonne voluisti ^(to)9 videre me fractam,

Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Flexum caput et demissos oculos?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Humeros delabentes ^(down)9 sicut lacrimas,

Weakened by my soulful cries?
Debilitatos ^(by)9 meis profundis clamoribus?
¶

Does my haughtiness offend you?
^(Does)9 Nonne offendit te mea superbia?

Don’t you take it awful hard
Noli ^(you)9 praeter modum irasci

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Quod ^(I)9 rideo quasi ^(I’ve)9 inveni aurifodinas

Diggin’ in my own backyard.
fodiens in meae propriae domus area
¶

You may shoot me with your words,
^{(You may)9} Potes me ^(with)9 tuis verbis transfigere,

You may cut me with your eyes,
Incidere me ^(with)9 tuis oculis,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,
^{(You may)9} Potes interficere me tuo odio,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Sed nihilominus, sicut aer, ^(I’ll)9 surgam.
¶

Does my sexiness upset you?
^(Does)9 Nonne conturbat te mea sensualitas?

Does it come as a surprise
^{(Does it)9} Nonne tibi est ^(a)9 mirum

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
me saltare quasi ^(I’ve)9 adamantes habeam

At the meeting of my thighs?
Ad commissuras ^(of)9 meorum femorum?
¶

Out of the huts of history’s shame
Ex ^{(of the)9} casis ^(of)9 historiae dedecoris

I rise.
^(I)9 Surgo.

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
Sursum ex ^(a)9 praeterito cuius radices sunt in dolore

I rise.
^(I)9 Surgo.

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Sum ^(a)9 ater oceanus, commotus et latus,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Scatens et tumens ^(I)9 resisto in ^(the)9 aestu.
¶

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
Relinquens ^(behind)9 noctes ^(of)9 terroris et timoris

I rise.
^(I)9 Surgo.

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
In ^(a)9 albam mirifice claram

I rise
^(I)9 Surgo

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
Ferens ^(the)9 dona quae abavi mei dederunt,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
^(I)9 Ego sum ^(the)9 somnium et ^(the)9 spes ^{(of the)9} servi.

I rise
^(I)9 Surgo,

I rise
^(I)9 Surgo,

I rise.
^(I)9 Surgo.
¶

*****
Here is a weblink to a recitation of the poem in English.
Ecce ^{(is a)9} vinculum retiale ^{(to a)9} recitationi ^{(of the)9} poematis in Anglico sermone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qviM_GnJbOM

I extend an open invitation to the readers to submit recordings of their recitations of its translations.
Ego ^{(to the)9} lectoribus ^(an)9 apertam invitationem porrigo ut recordationes recitationum ^(of)9 suarum translationum ^(of)9 eius ^(to)9 submittant.

If selected, their audio/video clips will be hosted on this website.
Si selecta, eorum audibilia/visibilia praecisa ^{(will be)9} divulgabuntur in hoc sinu retiali.

My invitation to recite the translations is solely for the recitations to be hosted on this website and for advancement of this project―a non-profit venture.
Invitatio mea ad translationes recitandas est solum ut recitationes in hoc sinu retiali divulgentur et ad hoc inceptum provehendum—propositum sine lucro.

Your contribution will be credited, but you will receive no monetary benefit from it.
Opera tua tibi recepta referetur, sed nullam pecuniam ab ea recipies.
¶

Latin
9 “I”, “You may”, “down”, “the”, “I’ll”, “by”, “Does”, “are you”, “with”, ”I’ve”, “of”, “Did you”, “to”, “you”, “Does it”, “a”, “of the”, “behind”, ”is a”, “to a”, “an”, “to the” and “will be”- Translation of these words in Latin in this context is not necessary because of the language structure, which is different from English

Words like ‘very’ (as ‘in the very dirt’} are expressed by an intensive pronoun in agreement with the substantive that it modifies. So Maya Angelou’s ‘in the very dirt’ I render as ‘in ipso caeno’ (lit., ‘in the dirt itself’).
Words like ‘down’ in ‘write me down’ are expressed by prefixes, not usually by separate words. Hence, citing Maya Angelou again, ‘You may write me down in history’ I render’ ‘Describas me in historia’, where the Latin prefix ‘de-‘ in ‘describas’ means ‘down’.
Latin has no words for ‘an’ or ‘the’. The meaning of the prepositions ‘to’ and ‘of” is expressed, as normally, by the endings of the words concerned.