Inner Composition

The poem “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman has a linear composition. The first four stanzas outline the past and future of the country, while the last stanza presents a positive outlook of the future. The poem also has a circular composition. The opening line speaks of the search for light in “never-ending shade” (l. 1), while the last lines of the poem suggest that light can be found all around us, as well as within ourselves (ll. 59-61).

The first stanza summarizes the general idea of the poem – that through struggles, a stronger nation has emerged: 

Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken,
But simply unfinished. (ll. 8-9)

This also suggests that many of the faults in American society exist because the society is still being established and there is...