On the Pulse of Morning

"On the Pulse of Morning" is a poem by writer and poet Maya Angelou that she read at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993.

Angelou's audio recording of the poem won the 1994 Grammy Award in the "Best Spoken Word" category, resulting in more fame and recognition for her previous works, and broadening her appeal.

[4] As scholar Marcia Ann Gillespie writes, Angelou had "fallen in love with poetry"[5] during her early childhood in Stamps, Arkansas.

The press also pointed to the nation's social progress that a Black woman would "stand in the place of a white man" at his inauguration, and praised Angelou's involvement as the Clinton administration's "gesture of inclusion".

[8] Angelou told her friend Oprah Winfrey that the call requesting her to write and recite the poem came from television producer Harry Thomason, who organized the inauguration, shortly after Clinton's election.

[2] ..."On the Pulse of Morning" is an autobiographical poem, one that emerges from her conflicts as an American; her experiences as traveler; her achievements in public speaking and acting; and her wisdom, gleaned from years of self-exploration".

Burr compared Angelou's poem with Frost's, something she claimed the poetry critics who gave "On the Pulse of Morning" negative reviews did not do.

[2] British reporter Kate Kellaway compared Angelou's appearance as she read the poem at Clinton's inauguration with the eight-year-old child in Caged Bird, noting that the coats she wore in both occasions were similar: "She looked magnificent, sternly theatrical with an unsmiling bow mouth.

She wore a coat with brass buttons, a strange reminder of the eight-year-old Maya Angelou who stood in a courtroom, terrified at the sight of the man who had raped her".

[18] Gillespie stated regarding Kellaway's observations: "But standing tall on the steps of the Capitol, she was light-years removed from that terrible time, and America was no longer an 'unfriendly place.'

"[23] Angelou's recitation of "On the Pulse of Morning" resulted in more fame and recognition for her previous works, and broadened her appeal "across racial, economic, and educational boundaries".

[27] The poem was featured in the film August 28: A Day in the Life of a People, which debuted at the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016.