Selection Provides Civil Rights Symmetry

Poet Elizabeth Alexander was 1 when her parents took her to the March on Washington. On Jan. 20, she will read at the swearing-in of the first African American U.S. president. (By C.j. Gunther For The Washington Post)

Walcott said last week that there is a tradition of poets speaking for their country.

"There have been great occasional poets -- poets who write on occasion," he said. "Tennyson was one. I think Pope was another. Frost also."

"I think it's a good idea," he said. "Every nation and every tribe should celebrate at least one poet who is the voice of the tribe. And I don't think poets mind doing that. . . . There are great things that in times of national grief can console, and in times of national joy they can elevate."

Former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove, informed about Alexander's inaugural assignment, said: "I can only say, 'Yay!' She's a wonderful poet. . . . This is going to be a wonderful match."

The Chicago-based Poetry Foundation also applauded the choice.

"Her selection affirms poetry's central place in the soul of our country," said John Barr, foundation president. "She is a perfect choice . . . one of the seminal voices in contemporary American poetry. Like Whitman before her, [she] has always sought in her poetry to celebrate America's tremendous common spirit and endurance by acknowledging our differences and triumphs."

In a poem titled "Ars Poetica #100: I Believe," Alexander wrote that "Poetry is what you find in the dirt in the corner, overhear on the bus, God in the details. . . .

"Poetry (here I hear myself loudest) is the human voice, and are we not of interest to each other?"