"Praise Song for the Day" is an occasional poem written by the American poet Elizabeth Alexander and delivered at the 2009 presidential inauguration of President Barack Obama. The poem is the fourth to be delivered at a United States presidential inauguration, following in the tradition of recitals by Robert Frost (John F. Kennedy, 1961), Maya Angelou (Bill Clinton, 1993), and Miller Williams (Bill Clinton, 1997).Italie, Hillel. "Poet Elizabeth Alexander offers `praise song' for Obama's Inauguration Day" , Associated Press, 21 January 2009. Retrieved on 21 January 2009.
It consists of fourteen unrhymed three-line stanzas (tercets) and a one-line coda. Delivered directly after Obama's inaugural address, it received an indifferent response"Elizabeth Alexander's inauguration poem was a message of hope and a call to action, but was it memorable?", St. Petersburg Times, 22 January 2009 Retrieved 2009-1-22. and was criticized as "too prosaic".Ulin, David. "Elizabeth Alexander's 'Praise Song for the Day' is too prosaic for Inauguration Day", Chicago Tribune, 21 January 2009. Retrieved on 22 January 2009. Graywolf Press published the poem in paperback on February 6, 2009, with a first printing of 100,000 copies.Spears, Angela. "Inaugural Poem on Sale", Associated Press, 22 January 2009. Retrieved on 2009-1-22.
Adam Kirsch called the poem "bureaucratic verse".
See also Poems at United States presidential inaugurations
References
External links Text of the poem Video of the poem's recitation