On the Pulse of Morning

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1993

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Unification of Americans

Because Angelou wrote “On the Pulse of Morning” for a presidential inauguration, it was essential that the poem focused on unifying all Americans. Typically, this is the focus of the inauguration speech presidents give during this event, and Angelou’s poem served to complement President Clinton's message to America.

Angelou centers the poem around natural imagery, thereby calling all people to something that they share: their origins and connection with the earth. Regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or any other identifier, all people exist on Earth and will return to the earth when they die. By centering the poem on something that naturally connects all people, Angelou creates a poem with a unifying core.

The poet chooses natural images that are universal. Rocks often symbolize sturdiness, rivers often symbolize movement and change, and trees often symbolize lineage and steadfast roots. These simple yet powerful images strongly link the poem to oral and written traditions that transcend culture.

Angelou is also more explicit in her attempts at unification when she specifically mentions different identities that must come together in America. Midway through the poem, she lists 20 different identities that co-exist in America, from racial identities to different faiths and sexual orientations. She tries to unite these different identities around the idea of seeking courage and peace. Even if people have different ways of seeing the world or different ways of classifying themselves, all people seek “the singing River and the wise Rock” (Line 42).

For Angelou, this is the way America will thrive: not by tearing one another down for profit or selfishness, as she discusses in other parts of the poem, but by uniting behind a common place in nature, a common desire for peace, and a common home, America. She brings this all together near the end of the poem when she writes, “You may have the courage / To look up and out and upon me, the / Rock, the River, the Tree, your country” (Lines 96-98). The poet insists that the country can have a better future when everyone is united, and they can unite through their common belief in and hope for America.

Acknowledging and Overcoming the Past

While Angelou believes in unification and common purpose, she is clear in recognizing the past injustices that have held people back in America. She does this in two sections.

In the opening of the poem, she establishes the danger of holding onto the past. She argues that those who live in and cling to the past are bound to be forgotten “in the gloom of dust and ages” (Line 8). Here, she makes it clear that there is no benefit to holding onto something that no longer exists. At the close of the 20th century, the country has moved past both the America of World War II and Revolutionary War; this is America of the 1990s, and it would be foolish to reject change. She makes this clear through the rock, who says, “But seek no haven in my shadow. / I will give you no hiding place down here” (Lines 12-13). While many Americans might wish to return to some bygone era or wish to glorify the past, Angelou makes it clear that the past is for the dead and the present and future are for the living.

However, Angelou is also clear in the second half of the poem that the past must be acknowledged because of the pain it has caused so many people. She focuses on this in the section of the poem where the tree speaks. She mentions twice how people have been paid for (Lines 54-55, 71). This carries a double meaning, as she is referring to the history of enslavement and the subjugation of people. While many were “paid for” during slavery, Angelou turns this into a sort of debt that is paid to history and is no longer owed by the present. She is saying that the sacrifices and injustices of the past no longer need to continue; Americans should acknowledge the price their ancestors paid, but they no longer need to keep paying.

This is just another way of moving on from the past. Angelou advises that Americans face the bitter moments of history, rather than hiding them, or hiding from them. Otherwise, the country risks repeating its mistakes. Instead, the country can learn from them and grow stronger. Just as the country can move on from the pain, Americans can also abandon the instincts that drove people to cause that pain. As the speaker advises late in the poem, “Do not be wedded forever / To fear, yoked eternally / To brutishness” (Lines 90-92). This is a call for evolution and advancement. It is a call to do better.

Looking into the Future with Hope and Courage

Finally, the poem looks ahead to the future and specifically calls for courage in doing so. The ending of the poem is dedicated to this message. Angelou describes this with the personification of the horizon, saying, “The horizon leans forward, / Offering you space to place new steps of change” (Lines 93-94). The future is calling and offering its hand; it is up to the listeners to take it.

Angelou argues that the only way to seize this future is to have courage (Line 96). This need for courage makes sense considering everything that has led up to this moment in the poem. It is easy to cling to a past that brought about great prosperity or great pain, as both provide an excuse not to press forward into the new, unknown future. But as she demonstrates in the first stanza, while it may be easier to stick to old ways and mentalities, doing so will result in nothing but erasure and death. While the future is unknown and requires work, the poet insists it is worth the work. She invokes the language of Martin Luther King, Jr. when discussing this, saying, “Lift up your eyes upon / This day breaking for you. / Give birth again / To the dream” (Lines 78-81). To dream is to aspire, and one can only aspire for something that is yet to come. For Angelou, the only possible approach to the new day is to welcome it “simply / with hope” (Lines 106-107).