With acclaim and acrimony surrounding Elizabeth Alexander's inauguration poem, I turned to Poetry Foundation president John Barr for some perspective. The Chicago-based non-profit publishes Poetry magazine and "exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience," according to its website (where you can see more of Alexander and her poems).

Barr liked "Praise Song for the Day," which he described as "more like a prayer or hymn than a modernist poem." He noted that writing a ceremonial poem is a tough assignment -- the words have to be understood on the spot by a large audience.

"A ceremonial job has certain requirements that don't go along with a poet sitting at a table and writing a poem of self-discovery. ... You can't get as many levels established in the poem."

He praised Alexander for using cadence and rhetoric to reinforce meaning, maintaining the theme of dignity, and sending the audience "home with lines to think more about." One example: "love with no need to pre-empt grievance."

As for the critics who have pummeled Alexander, he thinks their harsh words are misplaced. Again noting the restrictions of a ceremonial poem, he says critics are comparing Praise Song "to poems written for different purposes. [A ceremonial poem] is like asking a poet to write with one hand tied behind her back."  

Photo from the Poetry Foundation