New Day’s Lyric
By Amanda Gorman
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once altogether beaten,
Now all together beat.Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.We heed this old spirit,
In a New Day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
Summary of New Day’s Lyric
- Popularity of “New Day’s Lyric”: Written by Amanda Gorman, a phenomenal African American writer and activist, “New Day’s Lyric” is a festive poem. Published in 2021, the poem makes its readers believe in the bright future. Also, it accounts for the challenges people face in previous years. It, however, has become popular because it uplifts the readers morally and intellectually.
- “New Day’s Lyric” As a Representative of Hope: This is a thought-provoking poem. It begins when the speaker addresses the readers directly and says that New Year is a time to forget all our differences and welcome another year having positive thoughts. In the poem’s first stanza, she alludes to the sufferings and troubles of the world. However, she says those losses have eventually made us strong and capable of tackling upcoming challenges. Also, they have empowered us to chase the normal pace of life together.
Instead of mourning the bygone time, she urges the readers to look forward to a better time. She believes things will change when we pass through the door of hope. To her, the world’s future is bright as the previous years have enabled us to shine even during trying times. Therefore, she reinforces the same idea in the last two stanzas of the poem that it is only through kindness and hopes we can restore the lost spirit of the world. It is through unity and togetherness we can defeat the prevailing darkness and acute challenges. - Major Themes in “New Day’s Lyric”: Hope, troubles, transition, and the importance of unity are the major themes of the poem. This lyrical poem gives the message of hope. Amanda believes that hope has the power to take people out of misery and woes. She addresses the people of her community and tells them that she is aware of the troubles in the United States and other parts of the world. She alludes to the problems like social injustice, the severe impact of the epidemic, and various other issues to show unity with her people. Unlike others, she also has faced traumatic losses, but she never gives up as she believes one should not remain in the vicious circle of gloom and agony. People should try to come out of the looming shadows of terror and welcome New Year with a positive outlook. She believes that unity and togetherness help everyone heal and embrace what the future brings for them.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in New Day’s Lyric
literary devices are tools that writers use to embellish their simple texts. Amanda Gorman has also used many literary devices in the poem, whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “That though we weren’t ready for this” and the sound of /o/ in “So let us not return to what was normal.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /w/ in “to what was normal.”
- Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, the word “we” in the first stanza of the poem emphasizes the point, such as;
“We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “We steadily vow that no matter” and the sound of /n/ in “Someday we can venture beyond it.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Be bold, sang Time this year”, “We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday” and “Come, look up with kindness yet.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used hope and kindness as extended metaphors to show how these two have the power to transform the world.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols such as hope, faith, tolerance, and encouragement.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in New Day’s Lyric
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive diction having rhetorical devices, symbolism, and impressive images.
- Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here only the third stanza is a quatrain.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising a different number of verses.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote while encouraging the people passing through hard times.
“This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.”