Praise Song for the Day: A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Elizabeth Alexander is an inspired choice for this historic role. She is a marvelous poet, an incisive and influential scholar, and one of the great citizens of the literary world. What a joy it will be to see her and hear her at that podium on that day!" --Alice Quinn

 

"Elizabeth Alexander is a superb choice for the Obama Inauguration. She is from Washington, she represents Obama's generation, and she has written about the civil rights conflict and other historical events that have shaped the character of this country . . . At the same time, her intense personal vision reveals the commonplace life illuminated from startling new angles--as good poetry always does." --Tree Swenson, Director of the Academy of American Poets

Product Description

On January 20, 2009, Elizabeth Alexander served as the fourth ever inaugural poet and a central participant in one of the most closely watched inaugurations in American history. Selected by Barack Obama, Alexander composed and delivered her original poem "Praise Song for the Day" to an audience of millions, and now the poem can be read and savored for posterity. Printed on heavy, uncoated stock, with French flaps, and a silver foil stamp, this collectible chapbook is a cherished reminder of this monumental presidential event.

 

Also available in Spanish. 

Canto de alabanza para el día: Poema para la ceremonia inaugural del mandato de Barack Obama

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Product Details

• Paperback: 28 pages
• Publisher: Graywolf Press; First edition (February 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555975453
• ISBN-13: 978-1555975456
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 4.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #441,311 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hymn of Hope, February 17, 2009

By	H. F. Corbin "Foster Corbin" (ATLANTA, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Here is the poem "Praise Song For The Day" that Elizabeth Alexander read at the Obama inauguration, shorter than either of the prayers offered and briefer and better than "A Rock, A River, A Tree," the poem that Maya Angelou read at Bill Clinton's first inauguration although both poems-- even though Ms. Alexander does not use the word-- are about hope, as is the poem from the second Clinton inauguration, "Of History and Hope," by Miller Williams. It is not unusual that hope is a recurring theme in all these poems since we as U. S. citizens get all fired up every four years, believing that our new president can make a difference. That Ms. Alexander should focus on hope is even more appropriate as Mr. Obama's two mantras during his campaign were hope and change.

The poem begins with a variety of individuals going about their daily business-- working, making music, then progresses quickly to hope: "I know there's something better down the road." Ms. Alexander then gets to the heart of the matter, that we have elected the first African American president:

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

The poem then moves to a praise song for struggle and finishes with the subject of love. Alexander asks the question: "What if the mightiest word is love?"-- a love that "casts a widening pool of light." The poem concludes with "praise song for walking forward in that light."

When the British poet Stevie Smith was asked by Queen Elizabeth where she got the subjects for her poems, she responded that sometimes ideas and images came to her when she was hoovering. It has always seemed to me that writing a poem for a specific occasion must be much more difficult than getting ideas while you are hoovering or taking out the garbage or feeding the cat. Whether that is true or not in Ms. Alexander's case, she has certainly risen to the occasion here and given the world a memorable poem.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing Barack Obama's Presidential Quality, March 15, 2009

By	Brockeim "These are the best of days." (Where the wind blows.) - See all my reviews

In a word: mediocre. Yes, this will disappoint devotees and debutantes, but, away from the politics of it all, the poem was not a strongly written piece. It is with sadness I post this review.

While I love a poem filled with descriptive images, Alexander chose unimaginative cliches to show America. She presented no nuance, no color, nothing that is more than a prosaic poem not fit for a high school talent contest.

She looked for meaning, then scraped it clean of impact and influence before committing her idea to paper.

Who or what is she praising? A day? The definition of praise here is uniformly unpointed, as a day has no power. If the day has power, then it becomes a god, with a kind of omnipotent power.

"A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, 'Take out your pencils. Begin.'" So what? Farmers do that. Teachers do that. She neither tells us something new, nor gives us insight about their action.

Her attempt to summon the spirit of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman fails with, "Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks..." as her song has no notes.

She suggests, "Some live by 'Love thy neighbor as thy self.'" Is she suggesting others do not want to live by that, living entirely selfishly? That's hardly an Obaminian thought.

"Love that casts a widening pool of light." Love, here, is a living entity, after she tries to explain what love looks like in vague terms.

Praise changes from a thing to an action, clunking on the ground as the listener hums the platonic, monotonous drumbeat, "On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light."

All of Obama's passion was passed in Alexander's poem. It will be quoted because it was read at an inauguration, but for no other reason.

--Brockeim

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SING PRAISE TODAY FOR PRAISE SONG FOR THE DAY!, February 9, 2009

By	C. Scanlon "least helpful reviewer" (among us humans) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This brief (one long poem) paperback in a Greek blue and formal cover from Professor Alexander's old publisher Graywolf merits its humble, small space upon every shelf in America.

I recall the great Robert Frost (The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged) delivering the JFK Inaugural Poem, a reworking of an earlier work. I wonder who would have presented the Second JFK Inaugural Poem, and those of his family to come.

I remember the mighty Maya Angelou (The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou) delivering with great yearning, joy and power an Inaugural Poem (or was it a dream I had fulfilled?) and prayed she may here again, our President once being based in Chicago, where Ms. Angelou herself always found a welcome home. I guess Aretha Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings was sufficient for this day, from our boomer generation.

And once for Maya was enough, and so we have, from our President's high academic territory, Professor of Poetry Elizabeth Alexander, our fourth Inaugural Poet.

Who is lacking from this brief list?

Professor Alexander originated in Washington DC and reportedly watched from shoulder tops the Reverend Doctor MArtin Luther King, Jr., deliver his well-known, eternal poetry from the steps of the Lincoln Monument. Such oration must certainly inspire a young poetess, forming those young bones.

Professor Alexander has now amassed an impressive amount of American poetry, adding prolifically, generously to our nation's rich literary heritage. See her first The Venus Hottentot: Poems and her later American Sublime and Antebellum Dream Book and The Black Interior and the rest.

And now she delivers our fourth Inaugural poem, especially crafted for this historic occassion of our Presdient's Inauguration.

And such a poem, as wide and flowing and rich as the Potomac.

Surely you can find it by websearch in a number of places, but let us not steal our poetry any longer. Graywolf, her longtime publisher, here offers a dignified, suitable edition, gracing humbly any coffeetable, library, bookshelf, pantry, dentist office, university, elementary school, etc., in America. No one need find this book one to hide; we each may joyfully review this marvelous poem in pride, with hope,

In Love:

"Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance."

Read this book, several times. Savor each phrase, in view of the American journey, the American Dream, the poor struggling to survive as well. Memorize as we once did this new poem, this:

"Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables."

You will grow strong for the struggle we confront now. This poem will grow your bones as we grow once more together for the path ahead, as we, as the prophet predicted, arise like dry bones scattered in the desert, yearning to rejoin and to dance in glory.

Read this poem.
Though you never read a poem,
read this one.
Again.
To your friends,
To your loved ones,
To yourself.