The Hill We Climb

“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. Gorman wrote the poem for to be spoken aloud, so much of its power comes from listening to her speak it. The poem draws on many literary influences, but its most prominent inspiration comes from the elevated rhetoric of past Presidents and the civil rights movement.

“The Hill We Climb” is a poem of unification. Coming on the heels of the divisive 2020 United States election and the insurrection attempt of January 6, 2021, when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, the poem echoes President Biden’s message of unity and hope. The poem draws on American tropes and imagery to describe a country that is wounded, but not completely broken. The poem looks to the future and rejects the narrative that division defines America.

On its publication, critics and popular figures lauded the poem as a tour de force of political rhetoric and spoken word poetry.

Poet Biography

Amanda Gorman was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, in 1998. Gorman began reading and writing at an early age, partly due to her attempts to overcome a speech impediment.

When she was 15 years old and already a noted youth poet, Gorman became involved with social justice activist work in Los Angeles while writing poetry and also working on a novel. She published her first book of poetry, The One for Whom Food is Not Enough, in 2015, shortly after becoming the city’s first youth poet laureate. Gorman graduated from Harvard in 2020 with a degree in sociology.

Gorman’s performance at Joe Biden’s inauguration wearing a striking yellow coat turned her into a celebrity. Critics viewed her as a powerful voice for the fight for social justice and political progress. Gorman’s upcoming books became instant best sellers, and she was featured in ad campaigns, and became prominent in both the literary and fashion worlds. A month later, Gorman performed her poem “Chorus of the Captains” at Super Bowl LV, a first for the game’s typically musical halftime show.

Gorman has ambitions to one day become President of the United States, and she has repeatedly said she will run when she is old enough in 2036.

Poem Text

Gorman, Amanda. “The Hill We Climb.” SFist.

Summary

The poem opens with an image of night and the coming dawn. Speaking in the first-person plural, Gorman asks where we can find light out of the darkness, only to then express hope that “the dawn is ours” (Line 10): We have come out of the darkness and into the light, and that the nation is not broken, but “simply unfinished” (Line 15).

Gorman then references herself: The fact that a young Black woman is reciting a poem for the President is indicative of the promise of America. The Union is not perfect, nor will it ever be; instead, it is an ever evolving experiment designed to confirm that all people are created equal and should be treated equally.

The next section of the poem focuses on moving on from division and moving into unity. The speaker pleads with the nation to “lay down our arms / so we can reach out our arms / to one another” (Lines 32-34) and suggests that America’s ability to overcome pain, division, and loss is its greatest strength. Quotations from scripture, metaphors, parallel constructions, and contrasting images reject opposition, conflict, and hatred while supporting the coming together of all people in peace, love, and justice.

The poem grows darker, focusing on the imperfect nature of the country. American pride should be about “the past we step into / and how we repair it” (Lines 53-54), not a mythologizing of its worst aspects. Without mentioning by name the attempted coup led by President Trump on January 6, 2021, the poem condemns these actions, calling the insurrectionists “a force that would shatter our nation” (Line 55). The poem reminds the audience that “history has its eyes on us” (Line 64), quoting a line from the popular musical Hamilton.

Gorman draws a contrast between the division of the preceding years and the hope for the future: If we commit to unity with strength and faith, “How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?” (Line 75).

As she nears the end of the poem, Gorman again contrasts the past with the present and future, hoping that the legacy of the present will be love. She then references Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, calling on various regions of the country to rise, from “the gold-limbed hills of the west” (Line 95) to “the sunbaked south” (Line 99).

Gorman ends the poem with the belief that people will rise from their pain to make the country whole again. The end of the poem repeats its beginning: No matter how much darkness is in the world, there is always light “if only we’re brave enough to see it. / If only we’re brave enough to be it” (Lines 109-110).