The placement of the poet on the program was difficult. Obama is a tough act to follow.

I liked the figuring out at kitchen tables phrase, which really fits our worried times. As an Irish-American I gave my ancestors a role in her list of those who have built our country. Finally, I loved the turn in “Say it plain.” That is exactly what Alexander is doing and most effectively in this poem.

I wish you had dealt more with the lines about love, the climax of the poem. It seems to me that you’re erring on the side of the love you hope that Alexander intends, a pure love beyond expectations.

However, the context of this poem, befitting a professor of African-American Studies, is a straightforward leftist appeal, which addresses the working class and people of color on the event of Obama’s inauguration. The love Alexander delineates may be beyond the conventional American loves of spouse, family and nation (the poem does not even mention America), but it certainly does not go beyond the categories of class and color.

And where does Alexander’s “mightiest love” land? Not a love involving God, forgiveness, sacrifice, all sentient beings, life or other notions of pure love we’ve heard before–no, just a love that does not pre-empt grievance. That’s it.

Surely you’ve heard of the politics of grievance, very much at the heart of what concerns professors of African-American Studies these days? Grievance is the transactional coin between the oppressed and the oppressor. It’s not something I would recognize as pure love.

I don’t object to “Praise Song” as a leftist, color and class based poem. I do object to the pretense that it is a transcendent, inclusive poem of a glittering new post-racial America that Obama spoke of at times and many Americans thought they were voting for.

Thanks for the help.

Over at my own post, you wrote:

//I feel like our two entries are a sort of conversation–one that is honest, respectful, and passionate.//

Um… which one is the honest, respectful and passionate one?

Just kidding.

But seriously… I agree with you. I think there are any number of good commentaries on this poem – for and against. Our two make a good pair, though yours is more thorough and patient.

Thanks again for commenting on my blog.

I have a question regarding your structural analysis: do you really think a nine-chapter, two-part structure is tenable for such a short poem? It seems to me that this is a lot of ideas for one small poem. I always thought that poets, particularly contemporary poets, practice economy when choosing their words because focus and brevity help them uncover the true essences of experiences, emotions, and images. I’m not even talking about experimental poetry, here…I mean poetry that’s meant to be heard and read on a grand scale.

My other note is that I think that the “kitchen tables” thing was also a veiled dig at McCain/homage to Biden…which I find entertaining, but possibly not what the occasion called for.

Thanks for keeping the dialogue open…a comment that I’ve heard quite frequently is that, love it or hate it, this poem has gotten people talking about poetry.

Which is to say: I didn’t like the poem at all but your analysis was virtuosic. I’ll bet you could make the ingredients list on a box of Frosted Flakes sound like masterpiece .

Interesting to compare your response to Margaret Soltan’s over at: http://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=8237

My own analysis is more in line with Margaret’s. I cited your blog as providing a favorable and top-notch analysis nonetheless. Rather than post it at my Poetry Blog (just to shake things up) I posted my own response over at:

http://duplicitous46xyprimate.blogspot.com/2009/01/elizabeth-alexanders-inaugural-poem.html

If you’re curious.

Wendy, thanks for the link to the Colbert show. I heard she was on the show but haven’t watched the interview yet. I researched enough on African praise songs to get a vague sense of what they are all about and to discover that this poem doesn’t fall strictly into that form, but I really didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to discuss that angle at any length. Thanks for making sure we don’t ignore it. Thank you also for the encouragement; I’m glad you found it insightful. I heard a lot of people saying things like, “I’m no expert,” or “I don’t really know how to understand poetry,” even as they clearly wanted to know more and appreciate it more deeply. I thought I would take a shot at showing how an appreciative close reading is done.

I understand and am glad that, as a poet, Alexander makes a point to specifically choose the way she delivers the words – Delivery is everything when you are reading a poem no one has heard and does not see written for themselves.

However, I think she crossed the line from clearly-spoken and well-timed into overly enunciated and almost monotone. I really believe that a poet can articulate clearly and do her words justice while still reading in a way that makes tonal and rhythmic sence. The exaggerated articulation of the consonants between words (particularly the long pauses between every………….single……………word……………) really seemed to take away from a more conversational tone that speaks to an audience as large and wide as was present at the Inauguration.

Alexander made a comment in an interview about poets not typically reading to such a large audience, and perhaps the tone and articulation errors were a result of over-preparing and practicing before the big day. As an audience, we could have sacrificed some of the consonant sounds for an intelligible speaking style.