Good things about this poem from another poet's perspectivefritzfrelengJanuary 28 2009, 08:02:31 UTC
There are some unfortunately weak lines in this poem ("we need to find a place/where we are safe" is ghastly self-help prose), but I tend to agree with Vanessa's assessment of its worth.
1. Above all, this poem is about praise, which implies gratitude. Gratitude is the dominant emotion of many Americans right now as we take in the amazing event and the possibility of genuine progress in our foreign and domestic affairs. Ms. Alexander artfully constructs her verses around an ostinato of sincere appreciation for this moment in history and the thousands of people who made it possible.
2. The imagery is universal as befits a truly American poem; the language is simple enough for children to understand yet resonant with multiple meanings. An inauguration poem should be able to reach a wide audience while lending the occasion the dignity and ceremony it deserves. The phrasing and sentiments of the poem are not terribly original, but the poet succeeds in speaking to the common experiences of Americans.
3. This passage, my favorite, is especially well-rendered: sing the names of the dead who brought us here who laid the traintracks raised the bridges picked the cotton and the lettuce built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of
This stanza has the insistent, compelling cadences of an inspired sermon. A tasty mix of strong consonants and sharp vowels pours over a core of four and five syllable phrases (phrase breakdown line by line: 5 + 5, 5, 4, 4+4, 1, 4+4+5, 5). In eight lines, Alexander encapsulates centuries of servitude.
1. Above all, this poem is about praise, which implies gratitude. Gratitude is the dominant emotion of many Americans right now as we take in the amazing event and the possibility of genuine progress in our foreign and domestic affairs. Ms. Alexander artfully constructs her verses around an ostinato of sincere appreciation for this moment in history and the thousands of people who made it possible.
2. The imagery is universal as befits a truly American poem; the language is simple enough for children to understand yet resonant with multiple meanings. An inauguration poem should be able to reach a wide audience while lending the occasion the dignity and ceremony it deserves. The phrasing and sentiments of the poem are not terribly original, but the poet succeeds in speaking to the common experiences of Americans.
3. This passage, my favorite, is especially well-rendered:
sing the names of the dead who brought us here
who laid the traintracks
raised the bridges
picked the cotton and the lettuce
built
brick by brick
the glittering edifices they would then keep clean
and work inside of
This stanza has the insistent, compelling cadences of an inspired sermon. A tasty mix of strong consonants and sharp vowels pours over a core of four and five syllable phrases (phrase breakdown line by line: 5 + 5, 5, 4, 4+4, 1, 4+4+5, 5). In eight lines, Alexander encapsulates centuries of servitude.
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