The American People

The poem is written from the perspective of a collective "we," signifying the American people as a whole. This perspective is common for inaugural poems, which are heard by a large audience and strive toward themes of unity and togetherness. In this poem, Williams includes himself as part of this group of people who, despite being familiar with American history, still maintain a responsibility to act in distinctly American ways for the sake of the future.

The Children

Williams acknowledges that it is impossible to know the future of America, but asserts that the children being born in the present are the ones who will shape and experience it. Williams uses the children as a metaphor for the future, but also as a reminder to his audience that their actions and behaviors in the present matter because future generations will sculpt their own version of America...