Analysis of The Miracle of Morning



I thought I’d awaken to a world in mourning.
Heavy clouds crowding, a society storming.
But there’s something different on this golden morning.
Something magical in the sunlight, wide and warming.

I see a dad with a stroller taking a jog.
Across the street, a bright-eyed girl chases her dog.
A grandma on a porch fingers her rosaries.
She grins as her young neighbor brings her groceries.

While we might feel small, separate, and all alone,
Our people have never been more closely tethered.
The question isn’t if we will weather this unknown,
But how we will weather this unknown together.

So on this meaningful morn, we mourn and we mend.
Like light, we can’t be broken, even when we bend.

As one, we will defeat both despair and disease.
We stand with healthcare heroes and all employees;
With families, libraries, schools, waiters, artists;
Businesses, restaurants, and hospitals hit hardest.

We ignite not in the light, but in lack thereof,
For it is in loss that we truly learn to love.
In this chaos, we will discover clarity.
In suffering, we must find solidarity.

For it’s our grief that gives us our gratitude,
Shows us how to find hope, if we ever lose it.
So ensure that this ache wasn’t endured in vain:
Do not ignore the pain. Give it purpose. Use it.

Read children’s books, dance alone to DJ music.
Know that this distance will make our hearts grow fonder.
From a wave of woes our world will emerge stronger.

We’ll observe how the burdens braved by humankind
Are also the moments that make us humans kind;
Let every dawn find us courageous, brought closer;
Heeding the light before the fight is over.
When this ends, we’ll smile sweetly, finally seeing
In testing times, we became the best of beings.


Scheme AAAA XXBB CXCD EE BBXX FFGG XHXH XDD IIDDAX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 111010101010 101100010010 1110100111010 101000011010 110110101001 010101111001 010101100100 111011010100 11111100101 1010110111010 010111110101 111110101010 111100111011 111111010111 111101101001 11111001010 11001011010 10010010110 10110011011 111011110111 011011010100 01001110100 111011111010 111111111011 10111110101 110101111011 11011011110 1111011101110 1011110110110 10110101110 110010111101 1100111010110 10010101110 111111010010 010110101110
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,699
Words 301
Sentences 26
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 3, 6
Lines Amount 35
Letters per line (avg) 38
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 150
Words per stanza (avg) 33

About this poem

Amanda Gorman wrote this poem near the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic - noticing the beauty and hope possible, despite the challenging times.

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Written on 2020

Submitted by Soulwriter on June 29, 2021

Modified by Soulwriter on June 29, 2021

1:30 min read
18,163

Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman is an American poet and activist from Los Angeles, California. Gorman's work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman is the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. Her poem “The Hill We Climb" was recited at the Joe Biden’s 2021 US presidential inauguration. more…

All Amanda Gorman poems | Amanda Gorman Books

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