On+the+Pulse+of+Morning

=Back to The General=

ii. On the Pulse of Morning
A Rock, A River, A Tree Hosts to species long since departed, Marked the mastodon, The dinosaur, who left dried tokens Of their sojourn here On our planet floor, Any broad alarm of their hastening doom Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully, Come, you may stand upon my Back and face your distant destiny, But seek no haven in my shadow, I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than The angels, have crouched too long in The bruising darkness Have lain too long Facedown in ignorance, Your mouths spilling words Armed for slaughter.

The Rock cries out to us today, You may stand upon me, But do not hide your face.

//**Compare to:**//
 * "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance**

When I was a young boy, My father took me into the city To see a marching band.

He said, "Son when you grow up, would you be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned?" He said "Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made?" "Because one day I'll leave you, A phantom to lead you in the summer, To join The Black Parade."

When I was a young boy, My father took me into the city To see a marching band. He said, "Son when you grow up, would you be the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned?"

Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me. And other times I feel like I should go. And through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets. And when you're gone we want you all to know.

We'll carry on, We'll carry on And though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on We'll carry on And in my heart I can't contain it The anthem won't explain it.

A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams Your misery and hate will kill us all. So paint it black and take it back Let's shout it loud and clear Defiant to the end we hear the call

To carry on We'll carry on And though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on We'll carry on And though you're broken and defeated Your weary widow marches

On and on we carry through the fears Ooh oh ohhhh Disappointed faces of your peers Ooh oh ohhhh Take a look at me cause I could not care at all

Do or die, you'll never make me Because the world will never take my heart Go and try, you'll never break me We want it all, we wanna play this part I won't explain or say I'm sorry I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar Give a cheer for all the broken Listen here, because it's who we are I'm just a man, I'm not a hero Just a boy, who had to sing this song I'm just a man, I'm not a hero I! don't! care!

We'll carry on We'll carry on And though you're dead and gone believe me Your memory will carry on We'll carry on And though you're broken and defeated Your weary widow marches on

Do or die, you'll never make me Because the world will never take my heart Go and try, you'll never break me We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on)

Do or die, you'll never make me (We'll carry on) Because the world will never take my heart (We'll carry on) Go and try, you'll never break me (We'll carry) We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on )

//**Literary Techinques**//
 * i. Asy **** ndeton **
 * In the poem:** A rock, a river, a tree
 * In the song:** Go and try, you'll never break me, We want it all, we wanna play this part; I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar, Give a cheer for all the broken, Listen here, because it's who we are, I'm just a man, I'm not a hero, Just a boy who had to sing this song, I'm just a man, I'm not a hero

The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.

Asyndeton has been used in both poem and song to emphasize the fact that the items listed are connected, relevant to each other, and pertain to a greater topic altogether.


 * ii. Personification **
 * In the poem:** The Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully; The bruising dreams
 * In the song:** A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams, Your misery and hate will kill us all; Because the world will never take my heart

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Personification in the poem and song has been given to the world, though the poem refers to it as "the Rock." The world is physically incapable of crying out, making one lose balance (on purpose), or taking hearts just as much as the dark cannot bruise you. It's something of a metaphor in itself, saying that the world will accept you for who you are and that you shouldn't hide, that the world can jar you to a reality when pretending isn't working out, that it cannot destroy you unless you allow it.


 * iii. Repetition **
 * In the poem: **The Rock cries out to us today
 * In the song: **Carry on

The action of repeating something that has already been said or written.

This technique highlights the importance of these phrases throughout the poem. "The Rock cries out to us today" shows the importance of being who you are without hiding, which Angelou tries to implement. My Chemical Romance reasserts numerous times the fact that they and every other person will go on with how they were living life through saying "(we'll) carry on."