Inaugural poems are also unique in that, unlike a poem that is printed in a magazine, collection, or anthology, they are a predominantly auditory experience.

With elements such as speaker, audience, tone, and theme made so concrete and socially relevant, students are better able to analyze how poetic devices within the poem create engagement and meaning.

As an occasional poem, the work was written and recited to honor a specific event, the swearing in of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president of the United States. Studying “The Hill We Climb” offers students a unique opportunity to access poetry. The youngest inaugural poet in United States history, Gorman wanted her poem “The Hill We Climb” to “envision a way in which our country can still come together and can still heal” without “erasing or neglecting the harsh truths . . . America needs to reconcile with.” We are striving to forge our union with purpose.On January 20, 2021, Amanda Gorman faced a unique challenge. But this doesn’t mean we’re striving to form a union that is perfect. “And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine. While Biden’s theme for the inauguration was unity, Gorman gave it more weight with her poem. “I don’t want to say that my poem took a drastic left turn, because it was already going towards a location, but those events just solidified for me how important it was to have a poem about unity and the new chapter of America in this inauguration,” she told the NewsHour. 6, she was about halfway through her poem. When the pro-Trump insurrectionists attacked the U.S. The Los Angeles native told the PBS NewsHour days before the ceremony that she started writing the new poem in early January, shortly after being invited to present an inauguration poem. Gorman, describing herself, nodded to the fact that a “skinny Black girl, / Descended from slaves and raised by a single mother, / Can dream of becoming president, / Only to find herself reciting for one.” WATCH: Poet Amanda Gorman on how she prepared for Inauguration Day Of this group of esteemed poets, Gorman is the youngest in recent memory to read a poem on Inauguration Day. The 22-year-old poet was the latest to follow in a tradition of poets - including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander, and Richard Blanco - who have read for incoming Democratic presidents. Capitol, which two weeks ago was attacked by a largely white pro-Trump mob, and reminded us that “Somehow, we’ve weathered and witnessed / A nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.” Amanda Gorman opened her inauguration poem, “The Hill We Climb,” with a question.Īddressing newly sworn in President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, those of us watching, and the world, she said:

Amanda gorman the hill we climb meaning