Salon.com has an article about Elizabeth Alexander, a poet I’ve never heard of who’s been tapped to write, and deliver, a poem for Barack Obama’s inauguration next week (hard to believe it’s coming so soon, right?).
The article discusses the odd quandary poets find themselves in when asked to deliver an “occasional poem,” something that frequently happens when friends get married. I’ve been asked to do this a couple times, most recently last fall. This time, I didn’t bother trying to write something myself, instead reading an excerpt from Robert Duncan‘s Circulations of the Song, a tribute to Rumi that works quite well for these sorts of things, I’ve found.
This leads to a point the author makes about perhaps the “best” poem ever delivered for an inauguration, Robert Frost’s “The Gift Outright,” which wasn’t, of course, written for the occasion — either because Frost was frustrated in his attempt to write something new, or simply called an audible for some reason (one letter-writer argues that Frost couldn’t read the page of his new poem because of the light, and instead recited one he knew by heart). Here it is:
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The Gift Outright
The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia.
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak.
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.
Ignoring the obviously problematic imperialism of the poem, which is only mildly troubled by the notion of “manifest destiny” — if I’m reading this correctly, i.e., our act of “surrender” to the land was to make war upon its indigenous peoples — the poem works for a couple of reasons. First, it’s short. Nothing kills an “occasion” like endless blathering, and the temptation, I think, in being asked to deliver such a thing is to deliver a speech. To make some sort of profound comment on it, which means piling up more and more words. It simply doesn’t work. (How many words is the Gettsyburg Address?)
Second, it has a few memorable lines. “The land was ours before we were the land’s.” That’s simple, memorable, and at least intriguing enough to keep one listening. “To the land vaguely realizing westward” is the line quoted in the article as being especially appropriate for the hope and optimism at the moment of Kennedy’s inauguration, and I guess I can see that, too; it’s not nearly as rousing as just about anything Whitman might have said, but for Frost, it’s not bad.
The author sort of laments, or at least points out, that poets have simply fallen out of the practice of writing occasional poems — it’s not something we’re usually called on to do (what are we called on to do?). But I don’t know that occasional poems, at least the ones I’ve seen, have ever really been any good, going all the way back to the Greek and Roman odes, etc. –I don’t know; what do you think?
I guess I thought Obama was going to pick Amiri Baraka, you know because they both planned the 9/11 attacks together so this Elizabeth Alexander sounding person surprises me. Is this one of Rick Warren’s lay ministers or something?
I really like thinking of Robert Frost calling an audible, which is a really nice image, him at the line of scrimmage and everything, and also is fitting since tomorrow is one of the greatest sports days of the year.
the Gettysburg Address was like 280-some words, pretty short, and no one still talks about the two hour speech that precedes it. Also, it’s more like poetry in its language and brevity.
I think the biggest challenge (and Frost seems to have failed) would be read a poem at the inauguration that wasn’t somehow jingoistic or conventionally patriotic, but yet that still addressed themes relating to our nation,etc. It would nice to have someone go awol and turn their moment into a conceptual challenge to the large audience, but that’s unlikely. More likely to get a sort of Whitmanesque celebration, such as Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning” read at Clinton’s inauguration. And if I’m not mistaken Bob Dylan performed Chimes of Freedom, which, given that anyone could understand the words, is a pretty challenging lyric and one which is not about America per say. Hmmm…probably no one saw this as much of a comment or anything, given that if words are difficult, they just kind of roll of most people, but lines from that song like, “Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed/ For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse” aren’t exactly thematically appropriate.
But as for occasion poems in general, I think now for them to work you kind of have to take a sideways approach, because if you try to write directly about the event, it’s bound to get all hallmark, or else to ironic or cheeky to be taken seriously. So tough to be sentimental anymore in verse or to come out and say what you mean.
All lyric poems are “occasional” poems, but when one moves from exploring an occasion with the open-ended ambiguity of the lyric stance to the public needs of representing the message of a moment, conflicts arise. How to explore while also asserting? How to remain ambivalent about politics, movements, ideologies while also portraying one? My guess is that poetry written FOR anything will be a failure at some level.
The thought of Amiri Baracka giving the inauguration poem is too wild to imagine. Fist-bumps would be flying all around. I would settle for Dylan doing a song as well…
And given what Steve points out re. lyric poetry, it sends me back again to the idea that poets have maybe lost the skill set to write for “big” occasions (if they ever had it to begin with and if poetry is “meant” for such things). There are poets and of course song-writers who’ve tried to take on large occasions and speak in a “big” voice… of course Ginsberg, Dylan, also Robinson Jeffers, in addition to those mentioned by the salon author. This reminds me of those assignments we used to do in workshop — maybe we should all try to write a poem for the inauguration?
Here’s a haiku I wrote for the occasion:
the devil is gone
in his place now comes someone
hopefully better
I’m inclined to agree with Steve, though if the poet were given free range to ignore specific poltical positions, or to write about them how he/she sees fit, then a more open space would be created, though that’s not likely to happen, and anyway, does simply reading a poem at Obama’s inauguration put a political stamp on it and limit the poem, I mean, simply showing up?
I’m reading David Antin’s “Talking” right now (now here are some occasional poems, recorded as he’s inventing them) and I thought that would be great: invite Antin, let him make up the poem on the spot, see what happens.
TINA–
I think your poem “gets her done,” to quote the cable guy or whatever. short, to the point — it even rhymes. Today’s the day!
Yes, today is the day! Can you believe it?! 😀