Poetry Performance in Eloquence and Politics

Protest poetry is a form of poetry that stems from debates within politics. Many poets utilize their writing to spark a movement in the public to argue for their political opinion. This motion of the audience through using poetry is known as eloquence, as John Stuart Mill has described. Political division in the United States is always an issue that pulls the population apart. Many people refuse to hear out other people’s perspectives due to their intense identity within a political party. When somebody does not agree with their political opinion, many people within the United States population take that as a certain attack against themselves as a person. In reality, a disagreement with a certain issue is not necessarily a personal attack upon an individual. Due to the overwhelming nature in which a person identifies within a political standpoint, a poetic work over a political view resonates with a person more personally than intended. While an author might even be only writing for themselves, others will relate to their writing, making the poetry eloquent, even if it is not on purpose. However, on the other end, a performance such as the one that Amanda Gorman had done for a political work is eloquent intentionally. Gorman recited a poem, “The Hill We Climb” for President Biden’s inauguration which deliberately tried to move the public toward common ground. She did this on purpose due to the ever growing division in the United States having spiked from pro-Trump riots, Covid pandemic protests, and the Black Lives Matter movement. This intense level of political violence has lead to poetic performance by Gorman that has altered politics since the day that she came forward with it. Protest should be peaceful, which poetry successfully accomplishes while still being influential.