I do want to caution all students, however, that this blog post is exactly the sort of thing that will turn up on your teachers plagiarism checker! Hyperbaton places people ahead of its descriptors diverse and beautiful, and then she adds through appositio/epanorthosis: battered and beautiful. The next two lines introduce some of the figures of repetition well see throughout the poem, notably the consonance Ive mentioned already and the devices of anaphora, repetition at the beginning of lines or phrases, and isocolon, parallel structure, typically a device of syntax. The line "a union that is perfect" refers to the Preamble of the United States Constitution. The Bavarian Pre-Alps are a part of the Bavarian Alps like Wetterstein or Chiemgau. Wow Cass, that is so interesting. It is through you visiting Poem Analysis that we are able to contribute to charity. Copyright 2023 Literary Devices. The poem continues by saying that "the dawn is ours," implying that the light of the rising sun is our hope, our courage. "The Hill We Climb" (2021) is a spoken word poem by Amanda Gorman, who wrote the poem for and performed it at the 2021 inauguration of United States President Joe Biden, becoming the youngest poet to be given this honor. So many of the devices Gorman has shown us so far, she showcases simultaneously in this sequence. Weve learned that quiet isnt always peace. A sea we must wade also has conceptual curiosity inside it. I imagine that for decades to come, I will be able to return to it and unfold a little more of its intricate beauty. In the norms and notions of what just is isnt always justice. Amanda Gorman read her poem "The Hill We Climb" at President Biden's inauguration, on January 20th, 2021. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Our work is created by a team of talented poetry experts, to provide an in-depth look into poetry, like no other. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. The previous four years under the Trump administration marked a turbulent time in. The reference to the "globe" refers to the other countries of the world. What stands between us/what stands before us is a lovely pairing of antithesis and isocolon, again hitting that idea of the present as compared to the potential of the future a theme Gorman will open up more in the next few lines. Write a poem in response to "The Hill We Climb." Students can choose from one or more of the following prompts, or create their own: Create a found poem, rearranging the words and lines you marked in "The Hill We Climb." Start your poem with a line of your choosing from "The Hill We Climb." That well forever be tied together, victorious, In the next lines, readers should take a moment to consider how the examples of alliteration in the lines work together to give rhythm to a poem that has no clear metrical pattern. We will rise from the wind-swept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. In the concluding sections, the poet asks that we, American citizens and anyone listening to her read, be brave enough to see and be the light/hope thats coming. "braved the belly of the beast": "b" sounds We get antithesis of once we asked and now we assert, contrasting not only the past with the present, but question with declaration, and thus uncertainty with certainty. Once up top, you are treated to fantastic views overlooking Munich. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds; paromoiosis is a little more complex, the repetition of sounds between words of adjacent or parallel clauses or lines. Homoioteleuton is much simpler than it sounds: the similarity of endings in adjacent or parallel words: here, division/envision. The speaker inThe Hill We Climbis Gorman herself. From the beginning to the end of the poem, Gorman uses images of light and darkness, hope and fear, to describe the two opposing sides of America, those who want to divide and those who want to unify. Apart from the ploce of certain words, the consonance of th ed sound, and the paromoiosis, I feel like there might be a bit of anamnesis in here, too. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation, because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Analysis. This recurring image reminds the audience of hope's omnipresence, and encourages us to "see" and "be" the hope in an eternal shade. As much as I love rhetoric, that dopamine/endorphin/adrenaline rush doesnt happen every time. "A sea we must wade" (metaphor): The speaker compares the sea to a series of challenges that "we" must get through, the word "wade" referring to the action of moving through a body of water but remaining generally upright. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division, that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy, But while democracy can be periodically delayed. The conceptual chiasmus of close the divide (action on a breach) our future first (communal noun and primacy) we must first (communal noun and primacy) put differences aside (action on a breach) is augmented by the consonance of f-sounds and the unstructured repetition of first, as well as the paromoiosis in close the divide and differences aside. "The Hill We Climb" is an extended allegory about the journey America is on, focusing on the movement from the country's dark recent past to a bright future. The line everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree alludes to a verse in the Hebrew scriptures, specifically Micah 4:4, and one that was also used by George Washington many times in his life. When the speaker refers to their bronze-pounded chest, the implication is that the chest has undergone difficult situations before, and "every breath" from it is labored. If only were brave enough to be it. Things go downhill from the Kolbensattel Lodge on a 8,530 ft (2,600 m) long slide. Chiasmus is satisfying; that bobbing in-and-out sensation feels secure, somehow. In this piece, she alludes to the struggles America, and the world, faced in 2020, as well as the broader issues associated with the Trump presidency (and the longer history of the country). She depicts the American people as the light and the hope of the future. A sea we must. The poem itself does not linger on the imagery of. 'The Hill We Climb' by Amanda Gorman was written for President Joe Biden's inauguration and speaks about the future of America. "The Hill We Climb" was first performed by Amanda Gorman on January 20, 2021, at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Day comes as we free it and that free it sets up the paromoioisis that makes her final couplet so strong and memorable. . "blade," "made," and "glade": assonance of "ade" sound (The whole poem, in a sense, is that, too, but here we have it in miniature). Take, for example, her reference in the first stanza to the belly of the beast. The climax of the poem lies with the lines "if we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy, and change our children's birthright." You can also leave me a tip on Ko-Fi!]. By being "obvious," as Oscar Wilde would say, Gorman sacrificed this moment on the altar of banal political platitudes. (This is why I consider it a device of Omission under my ROADS system, though you could certainly make an argument for Direction). For a small fee, you can climb the 300+ stairs to the top of the bell tower. I know I go on about this a lot, but chiastic structure is so beautiful. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Many people around the world look to the Bill of Rights as an How does she starts to answer the question she poses in the first lines of the poem, where can we find light in this never-ending shade. We get homoioteleuton in redemption/inception, polyptoton of inherit from several lines back into heirs, and meiosis of hour to describe not only the very long day of the insurrection but this whole era of American history we must confront. At the end of the poem, these same images return, with Gorman emphasizing that hope is always present, despite the seemingly never-ending darkness. Athens was the birthplace of modern democracy, and from architecture to philosophy, the impact of ancient Greek thought on American ways of life is enormous. It is only the first of many ingenious literary devices at work in this piece. After a year like 2020, such a moment was needed more than ever. Every single person that visits Poem Analysis has helped contribute, so thank you for your support. The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. You might wade in the shallows, perhaps, but thats not quite the force that the verb takes here. The latter is the primary theme at the heart of the poem and what she wants readers and listeners to walk away from the piece feeling. She alludes to dark moments in our recent history, using shade as a symbol for them. Here, the day/light imagery places The Hill We Climb squarely within the canon of the Biden administration: consider Bidens inauguration morning tweet or some of the music played during the evenings Celebrating America event (Jon Bon Jovis rendition of Here Comes the Sun and John Legends performance of Feeling Good were my favorites). The speaker here uses the "we" pronoun to express a feeling of unity between Americans. They are also called "Muenchner Hausberge (Home-Mountains of Munich)", because they are all shortly reachable from the metropolitan Munich within an hour. She uses words like "dawn" , "striving", and "purpose" that point to the future. A. America is a thorny problem, all over, but reducing the arrangement to its key words, what is isnt justice, well, that does sum the problem up succinctly. Im so glad youre here. Such a better aspiration and something which speaks to communal effort, not fatalism). Those next two lines are aetiologia, a figure of reasoning that explicates a cause for a given effect. With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. Her piece, titled "The Hill We Climb," called for unity and justice, through both reckoning with the nation's past and looking toward its future. The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman is a 110-line poem that does not follow a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. Change). Such as the following lines found at the end of the poem: When day comes, we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid. Wade, then, becomes meiosis, a reference to something with a name disproportionately lesser than its nature. There are losses, a sea to wade and many horrors in the past, represented by the belly of the beast. These lines refer to everything from economic and racial injustice to the Coronavirus and the more recent unrest in the United States in the years of the Trump administration. We braved the belly of the beast. Another Hamilton easter egg follows in the anamnesis of history has its eyes on us (on you in the musical). Baldwin, Emma. It symbolizes the hill that the United States is currently climbing, socially and politically, and how far the country still has to go before it reaches the top of the hill. We will rise from the gold-limned hills of the West. The one I use is grammatical: one part of speech governs two or more others. Its like antanaclasis, only you dont actually repeat the word. That Ive marked it hypozeugma refers to the position of the governing word (here, at the end). She gives us no time to breathe, charging onward: the consonance in known nook of our nation and corner called our country recall phrases from earlier in the poem. The Hill We Climb study guide contains a biography of Amanda Gorman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. It may refer to Capitol Hill, the location of this poem's performance at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. "harm to none and harmony to all": "harm" is repeated Paromoiosis links power to hour, and she does one of my favorite things for a writer to do when she makes a metaphor about writing in author a new chapter. We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. "The Hill We Climb Symbols, Allegory and Motifs". There is syncope and paraomoiosis when we will raise turns into we will rise; there is anaphora in the repetition of we will rise at the beginning of successive lines, driving the point home. The Hill We Climb Summary.