Amanda Gorman is the youngest poet to perform at a presidential inauguration ever.
Amanda Gorman: the youngest poet who performed in a presidential inauguration
Amanda Gorman, 22-years-old, delivered her work 'The Hill We Climb' to a watching global audience and the dignitaries present in Washington DC. Her self-penned poem calls for 'unity and togetherness.'
Her five-minute poem started with a question, "When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade?"
Amanda went on to reference the storming of the Capitol earlier in January. She declared that the force we have seen would shatter America than share it, as well as it will destroy the country if it aims to delay democracy. According to BBC, America's first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate gave her best to find the right words at the right time.
Read also: Trump Leaves Note for President-Elect Joe Biden as He Departs from White House, Follows Tradition
Gorman continued her poem, saying that the effort nearly succeeded. However, democracy can be delayed, yet it can never be permanently defeated. 'The Hill We Climb' is a beautifully paced poem for a special occasion that will live long beyond the moment's time and space. With grace, Amanda delivered her piece with words containing words to resonate with people the world over today, tomorrow, and far in the future.
@Youtube
In 2017, Amanda Gorman became the country's first National Youth Poet Laureate, who followed the footsteps of famous names such as Maya Angelou and Robert Frost. Before the ceremony, Gorman told BBC World Service's Newshour program that she wanted to use her words as a point of unity and collaboration, and togetherness.
Aside from her poem 'The HillWe Climb,' Gorman's reading was widely praised. Oprah Winfrey, the US broadcaster and actress, tweeted that she has "never been prouder to see a young woman rise."
One of the good things about poems is that double meanings are encouraged, as per The Federalist. These radical ideas would be expressed directly in a poem than in Biden's speech, making sense and telling.
Read also: Biden Delivers Emotional Message to Delaware, Cries over Late Son on Eve of Inauguration
When did Amanda Gorman write her inauguration poem?
With Joe Biden's swearing-in ceremony Wednesday, Gorman from Los Angeles was invited late last month to recite a poem. Gorman recited her word to urge Americans to choose peace.
According to Daily Mail, the young poet revealed she wrote a few lines and finished her piece late into the night of January 6 after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol Building that shocked the nation. The young poet said to CBS This Morning before she performed that at her age, it is incredible that no other could say, "At 22, I am the inauguration poet."
To prepare her poem, Gorman researched the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. However, Gorman says the Capitol siege is what moved her to finish her piece.
