Point of View

“On the Pulse of Morning” begins in the first-person plural point of view, with the first stanza referring to “our planet floor” (6) and the second saying that “the Rock cries out to us” (9). The speaker is unnamed but given the plurality of their pronouns, the reader can infer that the speaker is speaking for all Americans — including the reader, who forms part of the “us.” Through this point of view, Angelou includes her readers and listeners at the inauguration in the narrative of the poem, underscoring its theme of unity.

Though the poem opens from the perspective of the human listeners, the vast majority of the stanzas are spoken in the second-person by personified nature, starting with the Rock’s invitation to “Come, you may stand upon my / Back and face your distant destiny” (10). Thirty-six of the poem’s 107 lines mention “you,” “your” or “yourselves...