Maya Angelou On The Pulse Of Morning Analysis

“On the Pulse of Morning” was written by a famous African American writer and poet Maya Angelou. At the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993, because of her public reputation she able to become the second poet in history to read at a presidential inauguration; and the first African American woman. Her poem spoke of the United States as a place where disparate elements of history could come together and describes how all human are more alike than different. This particular piece by Maya Angelou does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme throughout the entire poem; majority of it is written in blank verse to capture her thoughts. She uses personification to celebrate their sense of similarity, unity, and human solidarity. Maya Angelou also examines role expectations, responsibility, and change throughout this poem. …show more content…
The rock, river, and tree are symphonic to the different people of the world and how they all contribute in diverse ways. The poem goes on to explain that these objects are “host to species long since departed, marked with a mastodon” implying that they carry historical wisdom. She lists the dinosaurs who left “dry tokens;” which were fossilized and later reassembled for display in museums. She says their “sojourn” or temporary stay on earth ended in a “hastening doom” which they had no way of preventing. In line seven and eight Maya Angelou uses long vowel sounds and internal rhyme to reflect the dull mood when describing the extinct