Metaphor occurs in the latter half of "Still I Rise." In lines 21-23, for instance, the speaker uses metaphorical language when listing off various things her oppressor may do to harm her:
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
Of course, you cannot literally "shoot" someone with words, because words are not bullets; similarly, "eyes" are not knives and cannot "cut" people, and "hatefulness" is not, in itself, deadly. The speaker is using figurative language to emphasize just how painful it is to be surrounded by racism in society—how much it hurts to be barraged with hateful language, stares, and a general feeling of being despised.
Later, in line 29, the speaker describes "the huts of history's shame." History cannot actually feel shame, and this metaphor (that edges on personification) is really an allusion to slavery. The institution of slavery is a scar on American history, a deeply shameful memory out of which the speaker declares she will "rise."
More metaphors pop up in lines 33 and 40. In both cases, the metaphors build on the many previous instances of simile in the poem. Earlier in the poem, the speaker used simile to compare her rise to, for example, the rise of "dust," "moons," "suns," "hopes," and "air." She was "like" these natural forces, but she did not embody them.
However, the speaker switches from simile to metaphor in the last two stanzas. These final stanzas are also notably a departure from the quatrain form of the first seven stanzas. Thus, they can be considered the conclusion of the poem. In the first example of metaphor, the speaker states that she is "a black ocean" (line 33). She is no longer simply "like moons" or "like suns." By the end of the poem, she is a force of nature—"a black ocean"—in and of herself.
Similarly, in the second example of metaphor, the speaker states that she is "the dream and the hope of the slave" (line 40). She is not just "like" "the dream and the hope"; she is it. These more definite assertions are an escalation of the previous similes and contribute to a satisfying conclusion to the poem. The speaker's confidence in herself and her ability to overcome hatred and prejudice are clear.