The poems read at US presidents' inaugurations

When we shared news about Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem, we knew she was taking a special place in history because of her age (twenty-two!).

We didn’t realize, until Literary Hub shared a collection of all inaugural poems, just how rare inaugural poems actually are.

Just four presidents have invited poets to read at their inaugurations, as it turns out, so Gorman is doubly rare — preceding her were such literary heroes as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou.

You can read all of the previous inaugural poems, in full, at Lit Hub, which we assume will update with Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” once it’s been delivered.

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