Elizabeth Alexander Delivers Inaugural Poem

Posted on January 20, 2009

Yale professor and Pulitzer prize winning poet Elizabeth Alexander read the poem she wrote at today's inauguration ceremony. The prose poem, entitled "Praise Song for the Day" has met with mixed reviews. Many poets wanted more time to review the actual text, stating that Alexander's flat delivery really didn't do the poem justice.

One criticism that we heard several times was that Alexander used pedestrian prose: she used everyday language and common phrases that seemed out of place at such an important event. We disagree. We thought her phrasing, rhythm and imagery were perfect for the occasion, evoking the themes that the new president has expressed many times on the campaign trail.

We do admit to wondering what the reaction would have been had the poem been read by a well-known, talented actor, say, Morgan Freeman. He has the perfect voice to create mental images of the many American voices the poem discusses and to really sell the poem's last line of hope and optimism. We think it would have brought the house down.

Here's the video of Professor Alexander reading her poem.

You can find the text of the poem here.