In Amanda Gorman’s poem, “Ship’s Manifest” she starts off her book of poetry, “Call Us What We Carry” by introducing what’s to come. Gorman became well known for her poem “The Hill We Climb” which she read at President Biden’s inauguration, highlighting problems within the U.S. and society as a whole. In “Ship’s Manifest” she picks up where she left off, saying “This book is a letter. This book does not let up. This book is awake. This book is a wake.” The use of repetition here, emphasizes how she hopes that her poems spark conversation and don’t shy away from what needs to be said.
The title of the poem, “Ship’s Manifest” serves as the introduction to the entire book. A ship manifest details what people are on a certain ship, similarly, this poem presents what the poems on this “ship” will talk about.
A main theme throughout the poem is what you leave behind as a person, with phrases such as “Our greatest test will be our testimony,” and “To be accountable we must render an account,” which makes the reader think about what mark they have made on society. Along with that, she talks a lot about the past and what it can teach us, stating, “For what is a record but a reckoning.” The use of allusion to the past, present, and future throughout the poem, makes it so the reader really takes time to reflect on all they have done as a person and what they want to do with their lives going forward.
Another thing she mentions a lot is how sometimes, living in the world we are in today, working hard and being positive can be a challenge and daunting at times. In the first two lines, she writes, “Allegedly the worst is behind us. Still, we crouch before the lip of tomorrow.” Right off the bat, she is acknowledging how people as a whole have gone through some terrible things in the past, and though those seem to be over, it’s still frightening not knowing what’s to come. Later in the poem, she talks about how she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be doing and sometimes feels discouraged. She writes, “We are writing with vanishing meaning, our words water dragging down a windshield.” The use of the phrases, “vanishing meaning” and “dragging down” have a rather negative connotation with them, and show how not everything is great all the time, but rather life is a series of ups and downs.
She also talks a lot about how intentions really mean nothing, but it is the outcome and the emotion that is felt is that matters. She writes, “To be accountable we must render an account: Not what was said, but what was meant. Not the fact, but what was felt. What was known, even while unnamed.” Here, the emphasis on the aftermath of situations is shown, and it foreshadows to later in her book when she talks in-depth about certain incidents regarding racism, the pandemic, and climate catastrophes over the past several years.
Overall, the poem sets the stage for her collection of poems and serves as a strong opening, pushing the doors of her book wide open. She states, “Penning a letter to the world as a daughter of it.” Here, she’s almost just calling out to anyone who will listen, saying, “Hey, this is what I think about our reality.”
I think that this poem is really good and well-layered, and the words and phrases she uses, both basic and complex, bring the whole thing together and make you question a lot of your own thoughts and actions, which is always interesting.
(Greta Gustafson 3A)