So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left. If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change, our children’s birthright. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be:Ī country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free. So while once we asked, ‘How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?’ now we assert, ‘How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?’ We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,īut within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.īut while democracy can be periodically delayed,įor while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it. It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one shall make them afraid. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division. That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: We seek harm to none and harmony for all. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We close the divide because we know, to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colours, characters, and conditions of man.Īnd so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. 'Never been more optimistic': speeches, songs and celebrations cap Biden's inauguration day – as it happenedĪnd yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine,īut that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one. Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace,Īnd the norms and notions of what 'just' is isn’t always justice.Īnd yet, the dawn is ours before we knew it. When day comes, we ask ourselves where can we find light in this never-ending shade? View full post on Youtube Here’s the full transcript of Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Day 2021 poem:

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman