Author: tengrrl

Elizabeth Alexander was the fourth poet to be invited to read an inaugural poem at the swearing-in of a new American president (the others were Robert Frost at JFK’s ceremony [1961]; and Maya Angelou [1993] and Miller Williams [1997] at each of Bill Clinton’s ceremonies). It’s notoriously difficult, as reported by NPR’s Melissa Block and Salon’s blogger Jim Fisher, to write an ‘occasional poem’—a poem for a specific event. The best poets in this genre might be English poets of yore, such as John Milton, Samuel Johnson, and Andrew Marvell, whose livelihood sometimes relied on writing and performing such poems for a benefactor. Sandwiched between Barack Obama’s powerful speech, and Joseph Lowery’s spirited benediction, Alexander’s poem was challenged to live up to its potential as a nuanced, invigorating, and relevant form of expression. According to LA Times critic David L. Ulin, Salon writer Alex Koppelman and Poetry Foundation Commentators, she had mixed success. Do you think Alexander’s poem “Praise Song for the Day” rose to the occasion? Take our poll at the end of this post. Continue reading “Praise Song for the Day: Elizabeth Alexander’s Inaugural Poem”