CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Jan. 20, 2009 – 12:48 p.m.
CQ Transcript: Elizabeth Alexander’s Inaugural Poem
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SPEAKER: ELIZABETH ALEXANDER, POET
[*] ALEXANDER: Praise song for the day.
Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
ALEXANDER: A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, “Take out your pencils. Begin.”
We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.
We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, “I need to see what’s on the other side; I know there’s something better down the road.”
We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, 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.
Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”
Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.
END
.ETX
Jan 20, 2009 12:45 ET .EOF
Source: CQ Transcriptions
© 2009, Congressional Quarterly Inc., All Rights Reserved
Comments
Nice sentiment, bad poem.
Another flip evaluation of a person's work by somebody too utterly cool to give us an idea of what he considers great art... This isn't a bad poem at all, but it isn't a great poem either. The occasion could've used Gwendolyn Brooks, but I'm sure PC doesn't even have a clue who that Lady was. Americans are scared to death of poetry because they hate to be forced to think when they hear words not in the normal discourse. American poetry too has its fault: it has become bound by the academy. Too bad. Let's give another listen to Woody Guthrie.
i love it. this is poetry and not inspirational afflatus. that's the way it should be. brava elizabeth alexander.
Well, Tim's generalizations don't help much. It is pretty pedestrian poetry. The nod in the direction of Whitman, with the long lines and listings, is of course familiar in American public verse. The images never find focus, however, in anything except "Say it plain," which unfortunately Alexander seems to equate to "Say it with metadiscursive abstractions of the word 'word'" and "Engage the reader by using the second person plural, even while failing to offer a locus of shared significance." The poem ends by asserting the possibility of some better poem being written in its place. This offers hope; but not the sort of hope which will allow those who watched the program, standing in the cold, to recover their time or calories.
It's almost as if her poem was an answer to the question," can you manage to ramble on incoherently for a few minutes as filler?" Though the poem sounds as if there is some hidden meaning that we should latch onto, I didn't feel it in the way I hoped. A slight dissapointment for such a historic event
what a load of incoherent babbling BULL$#IT!!
Sad to say, nobody came to hear her, and few even wanted to. That's not a comment on the merits of the work. She was in the same position as a dog act on the Ed Sullivan show in between two Beatles segments. In this case, she was between Obama and Rev Lowery, and no matter how good or inspiring she might be, nobody really cared. That may not be the way art works, but that's show biz!
horrible, boring, bilge, stupid, ridiculous
Looking at it now, it reads better than Alexander's reading of it live. But it just doesn't compare favorably to Maya Angelou's Clinton inauguration poem "On The Pulse of Morning".
My poem - History Today I watched history today Words of hope and freedom I pray A nation of people, of all kinds With ideas and willing to change minds A man of strength hope and caring To start a new growth and sharing To treat each country and land For each realm to reach out a hand Powers of countries, leaders strong Have grace and not do wrong Open hearts to see, all mankind With time and work, to change minds Kate Knapp Copyright © 1/20/2009 Barack H. Obama Inauguration
I come with only a BA in English, so my sperspective is limited. I think the poen addressed her audience: Americans--and all peoples of the globe. With careful selection of particulars, she told us what was, what is, and what can be. Given the occassion, I think it is an outstanding poem.
The poem just did not resonate the importance of the occasion as delivered. Unfortunately, it probably "reads" better if you take a lanother look at the text but she missed the mark overall.
I liked the poem very much and appreciated her delivery of it. She seemed very composed and confident and her pace matched the poem's words beautifully If you listen carefully it evokes many things and has the beauty of sounding simple while being complex and deep in it's meaning.. The depth to be found in common things is often overlooked, but not in this poem Thank you Elizabeth Alexandra. PS See her interview with Stephen Colbert!!!!
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