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On the Pulse of Morning

By Maya Angelou

A textual and contextual reading in combination with Bill Clinton’s first inaugural address


Contents

1.   Introduction. 2

2.   Formal textual analysis2

3.   Extra-textual analysis4

4.   Introduction to the America of 1993. 5

5.   Analyzing the common themes and imagery. 5

6.   Conclusion. 8

7.   Bibliography. 9


1.  Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to offer a textual and contextual reading of Maya Angelou‘s poem “On the Pulse of Morning“ which was written for and performed at the inauguration of American President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993. First I am going to offer a formal textual analysis in order to examine the poem as a text.

The main area this paper is going to cover is the historical context as well as the parallels with Bill Clinton‘s own inauguration speech. I want to look at the overall situation of the United States of America at that point in time in order to understand what could have driven Maya Angelou to write this poem for Clinton‘s inauguration. The shared themes between Angelou‘s poem and Clinton‘s speech both point towards a better future and help to illustrate each other‘s points.

By contrasting and comparing „On the Pulse of Morning“ with Bill Clinton‘s inaugural speech new insights can be gained on both the speech and the poem itself. The version of the poem I will be using is the one which is printed in Maya Angelou’s book “The complete collected poems of Maya Angelou”. In this version are some words and lines that are missing in her performance from 1993, but since these do not change the poem drastically I will not address them further.

2.  Formal textual analysis

Maya Angelou‘s poem was specifically created to be performed at the inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd president of the United States of America. Angelou opted for a freeform poem without any obvious rhythm and performed it herself in front of thousands of people. Therefore I would recommend everyone who wants to take a closer look at the text to watch her performance at least once, as her unique style brings the poem, which lacks most formal features, to life. (cf.

Online 2)

The first formal feature that is absent is a regular meter. The lines vary from two to twelve words and have no clear pattern. Several sentences run over multiple lines, but not all of them are connect with an enjambment. This enforces the irregular pattern and creates a poem that can only be fully experienced with the help of a performing artist.

During the performance, many pauses, even in the middle of lines, are made in order to give weight to certain words and ideas. For example, in the line: “But today, the rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,“ (Angelou. „On The Pulse Of Morning“: Z. 12 ) the performer’s pauses after us, clearly and forcefully are used to deliberately create tension, in the same way such a clear and forceful message would.

Another formal feature that is absent is any form of rhyme scheme. A few rhymes are sprinkled throughout the poem but they do not at all follow any kind of scheme.

The poem also lacks the segmentation into stanzas, as it is written in one long column. But, if the text is looked a closer, several stanzas seem to be implied as the focus shift from one speaker to the other or when a new idea is introduced. The rock, the river and the tree each get their one implied stanza as well as one last longer one where they speak as one. 

This persona is actually a group of people, and a very diverse group at that, since the several Asyndetons list all kinds of different characteristics.  But, there seems to be another „lyric I“, different from the three main ones. This is some kind of narrator that speaks mostly in between the implied stanzas in order to set up the speaker of the next one. This persona can be seen most clearly in the first twelve lines.

The narrator seems to be part of the same group of people that make up the „lyric thou“, as the line: “the Rock cries out to us,“ shows. Therefore it is his or her function to communicate between the other speakers and the fictive addressees, evidenced by the line „They all hear The speaking of the Tree.“. „They“ refers to the group of listeners, the „lyric thous“.


The „lyric thou“ is most likely the same as the real listener. Maya Angelou herself would take the position of the narrator. She uses her position in order to reach the audience with her message. This kind of communicative relationship coincides with the position Bill Clinton takes in his speech. Both communicate a message on how the public can help to make a better future.

They do this by referring to the lessons learned from the past and by imprinting the idea of change into the people’s consciousness. But Angelou‘s poem and Clinton‘s speech have even more in common than it seems on first sight.

The performance at Bill Clinton‘s first inauguration

Egan 2009: 11) But, even more interesting than the raving success of her poem is the connection it has with Clinton‘s own speech, given before the performance of the poem. They share many of the same themes and both try to give people hope and a reason to work together for a brighter future.

Clinton‘s speech was just as much of a performance as Angelou‘s reading was. One could argue that any speaker has to entice his audience just the way a poet has to. The author Halford Ryan (cf. Ryan 1993: 307), who has analyzed many inaugural speeches of American presidents describes Clinton‘s Speech as dynamic and goes into the details of his use of gestures and vocal variety.

4.  Introduction to the America of 1993

Since both texts are deeply rooted in the history of the United States it is necessary to examine the political situation before Clinton was elected to be president in 1992. After 12 straight years of republican presidents the Cold War was finally ending, but without the looming threat of Communism the Republican Party lacked a common unifying issue.

The then reigning president George W. Bush had lost most of his goodwill from the population because he broke his promise not to raise taxes. The economy was also on a downturn and combined with the low public approval of George Bush the American population yearned for a change. Bill Clinton‘s campaign emphasized his goal to make America into a better nation as well as his stance on the hot issues of healthcare and the economic downturn.

When Clinton‘s speech and Angelou‘s poem are read side by side, many similarities can be found. The most overt ones are the common themes of change, work that has to be done, responsibilities, remembering the past and the possibility of a better future. These themes stretch trough both texts and even use some of the same imagery.

5.  Analyzing the common themes and imagery

Angelou starts her poem by introducing the rock, the river and the tree, which each stand for different aspects of America. The first one to be personified is the rock, which is a synecdoche and stands for the American continent. He invites the „lyric thou“ which most likely means the American people to build their lives upon him.

Clinton uses very similar lines in his speech. He talks about how the Americans must „assume new responsibilities“(Online 2. Z. 14) “face hard truth and take strong steps“, “take fearsome challenges“, but also criticizes how the American people have “drifted“(Online 2. Z. 32-33 ) instead of going forward .

He wants his fellow citizens to know that they can count on America, but also reminds them of the future and the work that has to be done in order to preserve the nation.

Both Clinton and Angelou try to rally their fellow citizens by referring to America‘s past and both mean to prepare them for the changes to come, because in order to further America as a nation they need to actively work together and are not allowed to hide.

Angelou was born in Missouri in 1928 and faced a lot of racism and prejudices during her childhood. (cf Nardo 2009:15) The wars the river refers to are not only between the races, but imply all the conflicts in American history, from the beginning of the Civil War to ending of the Cold War. The river asks the public to end all wars, in order to work together in favor of a better tomorrow.

Angelou then lists several diverse groups of people and the Asyndeton here creates the effect that all elements of the list are seen as equal, which was undoubtedly the goal of the author. It is important to note here that the list contains no “the white, the black“, which further solidifies the point that race should not be a major issue.

Clinton does not explicitly mention this many minorities, but his speech still contains references to the way the U.S. was founded and how the different groups need to start helping each others. He talks about „increasing inequality and deep divisions among our people“(Online 2. Z. 17-18) and „reconnecting our torn communities“ (Online 2. Z. 94-95) .

He also mentions that „this beautiful capital, [ .] is often a place of intrigue and calculation. Powerful people maneuver for position [ .] forgetting those people whose toil and sweat sends us here and pays our way.“ (Online 2. Z. 0-63).

In her long list Angelou also explicitly mentions two groups that both have a rather difficult past: the Native Americans, who were forced to leave their land by the European settlers, and the Africans who were forced into slavery. But she also mentions that lessons can be learned from such dark periods of history: „History, despite its wrenching pain, Cannot be unlived, but if faced With courage, need not to be lived again.“ (Angelou.

Clinton does not cite any specific historical events in his speech, but the theme of changes and new beginnings is present throughout the whole speech. The most common image he uses is the image of winter changing into spring. This works not only on the temporal level -“This ceremony is held in the depth of winter.

But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring.“ (Online 2. Z. 1-3)- but also provides imagery for several aspects about Clinton‘s presidency: the winter of republican presidents changing into a democratic spring, the end of the Cold War as well as the change that he demands from all American citizens in order to achieve a brighter future.

She ends her poem with the simple act of looking at her brothers and sisters and by embracing the new day by saying: “Good morning.“ .

6.     Conclusion

President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993 has been a major turning point for America. Both his speech and Maya Angelou’s poem ”On the Pulse of Morning” touched on issues that were relevant to the American public during and after that time. Both of them referred to both the good and bad events in America’s history and recounted the lessons that were learned from it.  Both spoke of the need to unify the different minorities in peaceful coexistence.

They tried to motivate the public into working together for a better tomorrow. In conclusion, it can be said Maya Angelou’s poem complemented Clinton’s speech and enhanced several of the images he used to great effect.



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