On the Pulse of Morning

“The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman (2021)

In this poem performed for the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021, Amanda Gorman echoes many of the themes that Angelou explores in “On the Pulse of Morning.” She highlights the struggles and inequalities of the past and present while also focusing on the hope for the future. Gorman also encourages the need for courage in facing the future and past. One difference between Gorman’s poem and Angelou’s is that Gorman is very clear in identifying contemporary issues, such as the January 6th insurrection attempt by Trump supporters in Washington, DC. Nevertheless, the poem follows Angelou’s example of contrasting the past with the future and setting a hopeful tone for the incoming administration.

“The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost (1923)

Frost’s inauguration poem for John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration is a poem he wrote decades earlier. During the inauguration, Frost was supposed to read an original poem he had written for the event but the weather made it impossible for him to read his paper, so he read “The Gift Outright” from heart. This poem contrasts Angelou’s and Gorman’s because it is almost entirely focused on the past. It glorifies the American narrative of westward expansion and American exceptionalism, and it spiritually connects the land of America to the white settlers who came from Europe. In many ways, Angelou’s poem acts as a counterbalance to Frost’s.

“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou (1978)

One of Angelou’s most powerful and famous poems, “Still I Rise” celebrates Black femininity through metaphor and imagery. In the poem, Angelou combats those who seek to hold her down, and she uses rhetorical questions and vivid metaphorical imagery about her body to combat those oppressors so she can rise. In this poem, Angelou again uses the image of daybreak to symbolize a hopeful future, and she again contrasts the past with the future, and oppression with hope.