The poem was widely praised by figures including Lin-Manuel Miranda,[21] Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Stacey Abrams, Michelle Obama,[1] and Barack Obama.[22] Critics generally received the poem very well, noting that it would likely remain significant beyond the inauguration.[1][23][24] Many critics named the poem as a highlight of the inauguration and praised Gorman's messages of unity, reflections on the past, and hope for the future.[25][12][26] Several critics also drew parallels between her poem and the works of other inaugural poets, such as Frost and Blanco.[13][27][23]
A critic for The Guardian, Adam Gabbatt, considered the poem a tour-de-force for Gorman,[28] while Julie Bykowicz in The Wall Street Journal described it as a "star turn" and noted that for a time she was gaining followers on Twitter at a faster rate than Joe Biden.[8] Jeneé Osterheldt in The Boston Globe praised the poem as "a forever spiritual to sing. A poem for us." She noted that Gorman's message could be about every African-American girl who has a dream and drew connections to Kamala Harris. Osterheldt also compared the poem and its delivery to Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning" that was delivered at the first inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1993, and its message to Langston Hughes's "A Dream Deferred."[23] Shayla Harris writes for Ebony that "Her poignant reflections on the country's past and her vision for progress were brought to life through masterful delivery. Through this performance Gorman has marked a place for herself in the African American oral tradition."[29]
BBC News critic Will Gompertz described the poem as "a beautifully paced, well-judged poem for a special occasion" that would resonate beyond Biden's inauguration, and praised Gorman for delivering it with "grace."[1] The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber described the reading as "flawless."[14] A critic for NPR praised Gorman's reading, her poem, and its message.[13] Dwight Garner of The New York Times Critic's Notebook wrote that Gorman was "a one-person reminder that if winter is here, then spring cannot be far behind," and "If her performance made you vaguely feel that you’d had a blood transfusion, it was perhaps because you could sense the beginning of a remade connection in America between cultural and political life."[30]
Liesl Schillinger in The Guardian described the recitation of the poem as the crowning moment of Gorman's rise to become "the voice of a new American era" and called the final lines a "poetic battle cry". She also noted that Gorman's "assurance and bearing made her seem to stand outside time".[24] Seth Perlow, an English teacher at Georgetown University, wrote in The Washington Post that, while Gorman makes use of many "generic Americanisms", she distinguished the poem "by performing with remarkable dynamism and grace". He felt that "The Hill We Climb" was not as good as Alexander's "Praise Song for the Day" but that Gorman's reading was the best reading at a presidential inauguration.[31]
Not all reviews were positive. The journalist Melanie McDonagh received the poem negatively in The Spectator, arguing that while the delivery "stole the show" at the inauguration, the poem itself was hard to understand and poorly written.[32] Poet and critic William Logan panned the poem in The New Criterion, describing it as "a sorry affair, composed of stock metaphors and dreary banalities, with the rhymes of a breakfast-cereal jingle and the heart of a stockbroker".[33]
Outfit
A rear-sight image of Gorman delivering her poem at the inauguration.Several reporters noted Gorman's outfit, which included jewelry that was given to her by Oprah Winfrey, a yellow coat designed by Miuccia Prada, and a red puff satin headband, also designed by Prada.[7][25] She sought to honor Angelou by wearing a ring that depicted a caged bird, referencing Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.[7][21]
