On The Pulse Of Morning By Maya Angelou Summary

“On the Pulse of Morning” Analysis On January 20th, 1993, America’s 42nd president, Bill Clinton, was inaugurated at the United States’ Capitol in Washington D.C. At this inauguration, Maya Angelou delivered her poem “On the Pulse of Morning.” She was the first African American, the first woman, and the second person to read poetry at a presidential inauguration. Her poem later won the 1994 Grammy for “Best Spoken Word.” Angelou was a writer, director, actress and civil rights activist through the late 1900s until her death in 2014. She worked closely with other activists including Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X to improve black and feminist culture. In the poem, Angelou describes the role of the president and citizens in the security of peace in America. Prior to 1993, the United states had waged many wars across the world and Angelou believed it was time to change. Through the use of symbolism and personification, Maya Angelou presents a theme of moving on from the past and creating new, tranquil beginnings. Angelou describes human’s effect on the earth and how they can attain peace with three different symbols. She begins the poem with, “A Rock, A River, A Tree”(Angelou 1). These three objects are inanimate, but they each speak for a different aspect of peace. The rock says, …show more content…
The three main symbols- a rock, a river and a tree- represent the three keys to obtaining peace by showing a problem and solution. The personification of these three symbols shows authority and the gravity of the situation. These elements make Maya Angelou’s speech strong with motivation and wisdom. As a civil rights activist at Clinton’s presidential inauguration, Angelou reveals to the nation the role that citizens and president play in obtaining tranquility and the necessity of moving on from the bloody