2014.05.28 玛雅-安吉洛

shiyi18

What Maya Angelou's Reading at Bill Clinton's Inauguration in 1993 Meant to Her
The celebrated poet died Wednesday at the age of 86.

By Brian Resnick and National Journal

National Journal
MAY 28, 2014
SHARE
On a sunny, January day in 1993, Maya Angelou stepped up to the podium of the West Front of the Capitol, directly after Bill Clinton had been sworn in and delivered his first address as the president of the United States.

She read her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," and in it she honored the occasion and encapsulated the entirety of America's history — from the time of the dinosaurs to the struggles of Native Americans and African-Americans. The message of her poem was that the United States was a place where all these disparate elements of history can come together.

{{ BIZOBJ (video: 4975) }}

Here on the pulse of this new day,

You may have the grace to look up and out

And into your sister's eyes, into

Your brother's face, your country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

Good morning.

"In my work, in everything I do, I mean to say that we human beings are more alike than we are unalike, and to use that statement to break down the walls we set between ourselves because we are different," she told the Los Angeles Times about the poem at the time. "I suggest that we should herald the differences, because the differences make us interesting, and also enrich and make us stronger. The differences are minuscule compared to the similarities. That's what I mean to say."


The poem was hopeful and optimistic that the country could continue to come together, despite its history. "History," she intoned, "despite its wrenching pain, / Cannot be unlived, and if faced / With courage, need not be lived again."

Maya Angelou died Wednesday at the age of 86.

"There seems to be a promise in the air," she told The New York Times the month before the inauguration. "I do think we have another chance. Our nation has been given so many chances to set it right, and in so many cases we've taken the low ground. With Mr. Clinton, we have a person of large vision."

Angelou was a long-time Clinton family supporter, who in 2008, told The Guardian,  "I made up my mind 15 years ago that if [Hillary Clinton] ever ran for office I'd be on her wagon." She wrote a poem praising Hillary Clinton during her presidential campaign in 2008. Before the 1993 inauguration Angelou said, "Since the election, I have found it easier to wake up in the morning."

President Clinton issued a statement after the news of her death Wednesday. "I will always be grateful for her electrifying reading of 'On the Pulse of Morning' at my first inaugural, and even more for all the years of friendship that followed," he said. "Now she sings the songs the Creator gave to her when the river 'and the tree and the stone were one.'"

{{thirdPartyEmbed type:animatedgif source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wiki ... /b2/Angeloupoem.jpg}}

Brian Resnick is a former staff correspondent at National Journal and a former producer of The Atlantic's National channel.
Twitter
News and updates from the editors of National Journal magazine.



玛雅-安吉洛1993年在比尔-克林顿就职典礼上的演讲对她意味着什么？
这位著名的诗人周三去世，享年86岁。

布莱恩-雷斯尼克和《国家日报》报道

国家期刊
2014年5月28日

1993年1月一个阳光明媚的日子，在比尔-克林顿宣誓就职并发表他作为美国总统的首次讲话之后，玛雅-安吉洛走上了国会大厦西侧的讲台。

她宣读了她的诗歌《在清晨的脉搏上》，在这首诗中，她向这个场合表示敬意，并概括了美国的全部历史--从恐龙时代到美国原住民和非洲裔美国人的斗争。她的诗所传达的信息是，美国是一个所有这些不相干的历史元素能够汇聚在一起的地方。

{{ BIZOBJ (video: 4975) }}}。

在这里，在这个新的一天的脉搏上。

你可能有风度抬头看出去

看看你妹妹的眼睛，看看

你哥哥的脸，你的国家

并简单地说

非常简单

带着希望

早上好。

"在我的作品中，在我所做的一切中，我的意思是说，我们人类的相似性大于不相似性，并利用这一说法来打破我们因为不同而在自己之间设置的墙壁，"她当时就这首诗对《洛杉矶时报》说。"我建议，我们应该预示着差异，因为差异使我们变得有趣，也使我们变得丰富和强大。与相似之处相比，差异是微不足道的。这就是我想说的。"


这首诗充满了希望和乐观，尽管有历史，但这个国家可以继续走到一起。"历史，"她说，"尽管它的痛苦令人揪心，/不能不活，如果勇敢面对/就不需要再活。"

玛雅-安吉洛星期三去世，享年86岁。

"空气中似乎有一种承诺，"她在就职典礼前一个月告诉《纽约时报》。"我确实认为我们有另一个机会。我们的国家已经得到了许多机会来纠正它，在许多情况下，我们都采取了低姿态。有了克林顿先生，我们有了一个有大视野的人。"

安吉洛是克林顿家族的长期支持者，她在2008年告诉《卫报》："我在15年前就下定决心，如果[希拉里-克林顿]有一天竞选公职，我就会坐上她的马车。" 她在2008年希拉里-克林顿的总统竞选期间写了一首赞美她的诗。在1993年的就职典礼前，安吉洛说："自从选举后，我发现早上醒来更容易了"。

克林顿总统在她周三去世的消息后发表了一份声明。"他说："我将永远感谢她在我的第一次就职典礼上激动人心的朗诵'On the Pulse of Morning'，更感谢随后所有多年的友谊。"现在她唱着造物主在河流'与树和石头合二为一'时给她的歌曲。"

{{thirdPartyEmbed type:animatedgif source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wiki ... /b2/Angeloupoem.jpg}}

布莱恩-雷斯尼克（Brian Resnick）是《国家期刊》的前工作人员记者，也是《大西洋》国家频道的前制作人。
推特
来自《国家期刊》杂志编辑部的新闻和更新。