January 20, 2009

Elizabeth Alexander at the Inauguration

Thanks to January. I am still amazed at this. Beautiful, beautiful.


5 comments:

Emily Ruth said...

Not really one of my favorites, actually. I mean, I liked it, but when I started thinking about Frost declaiming at an inauguration... everything else just seemed kinda pathetic. Then again, I'm a Frost fanatic so I guess that's my prejudice speaking ;)

The way she read it didn't help much either... kinda choppy, no?

Although I should be *learning* from these "amazing" modern poets, I can't help but stick my nose back into my handy book of Frost poems... *sigh*

Priya said...

I kind of agree with you, Emily Ruth. The first time I heard it, I thought she was giving a speech or something. I guess if you get used to it, then the style works out fine.

Maya Ganesan said...

I rather liked it. ;) It's how poetry is read; the poet-bloggers whose blogs I read seem to have enjoyed it. Or at least they said they did.

Beth Kephart said...

Thank you for posting this. It's good to be able to hear it again, see it. I do think that perhaps there's another way to read one's poems. I think that, at least, is something to be explored.

Language gives us so many chances to do things new, again.

Odessa said...

i really like the poem, i think its strength is in its simplicity and accessibility. i prefer "seeing" poems rather than "hearing" them, maybe because i'm terrified of public speaking myself. kudos to elizabeth alexander for doing such a fine job of representing poetry in front of such a huge audience.