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Overview
“On the Pulse of Morning” is a poem Maya Angelou wrote for the occasion of Bill Clinton’s first presidential inauguration, in 1993
. She read the poem live on television, thereby becoming the first Black woman to perform at an inauguration ceremony—something that wouldn’t happen again until Amanda Gorman performed at Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021. As a work written for a political occasion, the poem explores themes that were central to U.S. politics at the time, including the importance of embracing social inclusion and the need to face the past.Read a summary & analysis, an analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “On the Pulse of Morning.”
