Written for Joe Bidenâs inauguration as the 46th President of the United States, Amanda Gormanâs âThe Hill We Climbâ presents a country that isnât striving for perfection, but for steady, ongoing improvement. While the U.S. is still full of conflict and difficulty, the speaker suggests, itâs worth celebrating the progress the country has made up the âhillâ of justice, and working to make sure that it keeps on climbing. American problems canât be solved all in one fell swoop, this poem arguesâbut thatâs no reason to give up the hope that things can get a lot better over time.
In recent years, the speaker suggests, the U.S. has been going through a dark and difficult period, full of hatred and division. This doesnât mean the country is irrevocably broken, however. Rather, Americans should have hope that their âunpolishedâ country can get betterâand should see themselves as playing an important part in that change.
While the U.S. has seen years of turmoil and suffering, the speaker says, this is also a day upon which a âskinny Black girl descended from slavesâ can find herself ârecitingâ for a new president (and hoping to be president herself someday)! This autobiographical moment, in which Amanda Gorman clearly refers to her own life experience as a young Black poet speaking at Bidenâs inauguration, suggests that every individual American has a part to play in changing the country for the better. These lines also point out that the country has already gotten better, in spite of all its recent struggles.
Yet even as thereâs plenty of hope for better times, the speaker cautions readers that change comes slowly. Whatâs important is not to âform a union that is perfect,â but to âforge a union with purpose,â seeing continuous effort as an American value that will continue generation after generation. The American task, the speaker suggests, is to say that âEven as we hurt, we hoped [âŠ] Even as we tired, we tried.â That is, Americans shouldnât be discouraged by the difficulty and pain of trying to make lasting change for the better, but understand these as inevitable parts of progressâand of good citizenship. This kind of persistence also involves looking hopefully to the future. Americans must refuse to give up, because âour inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.â Persistently struggling to improve an imperfect reality is part of handing on a better starting point to future Americans.
In the end, the speaker says, whatâs most important is not regretting that Americans canât fix all of their countryâs problems at once, but realizing that every American has a part to play in gradually making things better. If Americans can be âbrave enough to beâ the âlight,â change will always comeâeven if it comes slowly and painfully. The hope of a better future, the speaker concludes, can motivate Americans to commit to the hard work of change.