Amanda Gorman's New Year's Poem (Her Instagram Influence)

– Amanda Gorman New Year’s Poem –

In January 2021, Amanda Gorman climbed to fame by performing her own poetry, “The Hill We Climb,” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The 23-year-old juvenile poet laureate has grown steadily adding the “Amanda Gorman’s New Year’s Poem” to her rising collection.

She became the first poet to perform at the Super Bowl, for instance, and her collection of poetry, “Call Us What We Carry,” was a New York Times bestseller in 2021 alone. They also chose her for Time magazine’s 100 Next List under the category of “Phenoms.”

In her poignant poem “New Day’s Lyric,” Gorman focuses on the year 2021 and weaves together themes of adversity, optimism, and resiliency.

Amanda Gorman’s New Year’s Poem

“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 all together 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 forgotten 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.”

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Amanda Gorman’s Donation Program & Instagram Influence

Instagram shared Gorman’s “New Day’s Lyric” on its official Instagram page along with a video of Gorman delivering the poem in a deserted theater.

“It’s time to greet 2022 with Amanda Gorman’s (@amandascgorman) excitement and her new, never-read poetry,” the description for the video stated.

In her own heartfelt post, Gorman encouraged readers to support the International Rescue Committee by making a donation in order to aid individuals afflicted by the coronavirus outbreak. She also shared the video.

She also gave some thought to the year, saying that she wanted to “enjoy the new year and remember both the grief and humanity of the old one” with her most recent poetry.

Gorman stated in a long post: “BIG NEWS!! I wrote A New Day’s Lyric to remember the suffering and compassion of the previous year and to welcome in the new one.

For the International Rescue Committee (IRC) @rescueorg, whose response to the coronavirus pandemic and humanitarian crises delivers lifesaving programs to vulnerable communities globally, I’m raising money as a way of paying it forward for what I’ve said.

Instagram had already committed $50,000! Let’s raise the donation level even further.

“You may donate at the website and/or spread the word about the fundraiser; even a small amount helps a lot.

Even though I am usually reluctant to use one of my own poems as a quotation, I firmly believe what I say when I say: “Join, gaze up with love yet, for wherever we come together, we shall eternally overcome.”

Amanda Gorman in an Interview with the Press

According to Gorman, in an interview with the Associated Press, she sought to create a piece that captured the complex emotions of 2021 while ultimately emphasizing hope and healing.

The Associated Press quoted her as saying, “This is such a strange New Year’s Day, because even as we toast our glasses to the future, we still have our heads bent for what has been lost.”

“The proverb “This too shall pass” is one of the most crucial things I believe the new year serves to remind us of. We cannot relive twice the same day…”

The social media company’s partnership with Gorman, she explained in an interview with Vanity Fair before the book’s publication, reflected her own experiences over the previous year as she came to terms with rapid social and environmental change and the accompanying narratives “we interact or meet with on social media.”

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One Line Interpretation of Amanda Gorman’s New Year’s Poem

Despite what it may appear like given recent political, environmental, and societal divisions, the poem’s opening stanzas call for unity among all of us:

“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.“

The song “Auld Lang Syne,” which is about nostalgia and happily remembering the past, has a new meaning for all Americans in the final stanza:

“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 forgotten 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.“

Gorman, who is now 23 years old, was the youngest inaugural poet in American history when he assumed the previous position at 19. Her vision for 2022 combines young hope with a sobering recognition of the suffering, loss, and fear that 2021 had brought.

The generation most affected is still using the platform to build community and make a difference where it can, especially as we approach the new year. Instagram is fighting evidence that the corporation intentionally caused significant harm to young users.

Scroll through our pages for other new year poems and more information on Amanda Gorman.