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“History, despite its wrenching pain, / Cannot be unlived, but if faced / With courage, need not be lived again.”

Source: “On the Pulse of Morning”, read at the presidential inauguration, Washington, D.C., 20 January 1993

Context She read the poem at Bill Clinton's first inauguration, the first poet invited to do so since Robert Frost in 1961.

Portrait of Maya Angelou
Maya AngelouUnited States · 1928–2014
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