How a ‘Hamilton’ Song Helped Amanda GormanOvercome a Speech Impediment阿曼达·戈尔曼通过唱歌克服言语障碍

斯科蒂·安德鲁 佐伊·克里森·琼斯

“For there is always light，

If only were brave enough to see it，

If only were brave enough to be it.”

Those are the words from Amanda Gormans poem. She is the poet who literally stole the show1 with her rousing poem， “The Hill We Climb，” at President Joe Bidens inauguration.

Ahead of the performance， Gorman spoke to CBS and noted how the poem was amended after the violent attack on the Capitol. “I wanted it to be a message of hope and unity. And I think that Wednesday2 for me really just underscored how much that was needed，” she said. “But to not turn a blind eye to the cracks that really need to be filled.”

Her words were strong， succinct， poignant， and powerful. She delivered them with precision and poise like that of a veteran orator. But Gorman is young. In fact， at the age of 22， Gorman became the youngest poet to recite in any Presidential inaugural.

While her words were powerful， full of emotion， and captured the moment with awe， it wasnt the only thing about her that captivated viewers across the world. Gormans recitation， her speech and voice moved with such grace and confidence， her words flowed like water， yet few would believe that she too like our new President Biden had been dealing with a speech impediment since childhood.

You wouldnt know it from her commanding delivery at the inauguration， but up until a few years ago， National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman struggled to overcome speech impediment.

For much of her life， including when she was still an undergraduate at Harvard， Gorman had trouble pronouncing the letter “R.”

To practice saying the letter， shed listen on repeat to one song she said was “packed with ‘Rs”—“Aaron Burr， Sir” from Lin-Manuel Miranda3s historical opus4， “Hamilton5.”

“I would try to keep up with Leslie Odom Jr. （who played Burr in the original Broadway cast） as hes， you know， doing this amazing rap，” Gorman told CNNs Anderson Cooper， following her triumphant inaugural performance. “I would say， if I can train myself to do this song， then I can train myself to say this letter.”

Sure enough， rapping along with Odom Jr. and Mirandas fast-paced rhymes worked， and Gormans performance of her piece， “The Hill We Climb，” ranked among the highlights of President Joe Bidens inauguration.

Overcoming a speech impediment is a milestone she shares with the 46th President， as well as a love for “Hamilton” （the original Broadway cast performed at the White House while he was Vice President and reunited in 2020 for a Biden campaign video）.

Gorman said she owes a lot to the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical， calling it “part of （her） speech pathology6.”

“Its why I included it in the inaugural poem，” she told Cooper. “Also， beyond that， I think ‘Hamilton is such a great kind of American cultural piece of what it means to be a better country.”

Gorman snuck in7 a few references to “Hamilton” in her stirring poem， some of which Miranda caught. He lauded her performance in a tweet.

“You were perfect. Perfectly written， perfectly delivered，” he wrote. “Every bit of it. Brava！”

Politicians and cultural titans like Barack Obama， Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey echoed Mirandas praise. In her fleeting moments on the inaugural stage， as Gorman called on the American people to summon the bravery it takes to “be” the light， she became a light for the country， too.                                                      ■

因為光明永在，

只要我们足够勇敢去探寻光明，

只要我们足够勇敢去成为光明。

这是阿曼达·戈尔曼的诗句。她就是在乔·拜登总统就职典礼上，以其激动人心的诗作《我们攀登的山》抢尽典礼风头的那个诗人。

朗诵前，戈尔曼接受了哥伦比亚广播公司的采访，指出在国会大厦遭到暴力冲击之后，这首诗做了怎样的修改。“我想让这首诗传递出希望和团结的信息。我想，对我而言，发生在那个星期三的事件（1月6日）确实凸显出我们是多么需要这样的信息。”她说道，“但不要对那些真正需要填补的裂痕视而不见。”

她的诗句铿锵有力，简洁明了，感人肺腑，大气磅礴。她像一位老练的演说家一样，精准到位、淡定自若地朗诵了自己的诗句。事实上，戈尔曼还很年轻，仅有22岁，成为在美国总统就职典礼上朗诵的最年轻的诗人。

尽管她的诗句气势恢宏，饱含情感，震撼人心，但令全球观众倾倒的并不仅仅是她的诗句。戈尔曼的朗诵优雅自信，节奏流畅。但几乎无人相信，如我们的新总统拜登一样，她自小就有言语障碍。

从她在就职典礼上威严大气的朗诵根本看不出她有言语障碍，其实直到几年前，全国青年桂冠诗人得主阿曼达·戈尔曼一直在努力克服言语障碍。

她生活中的大部分时间，包括她还在哈佛读本科的时候，戈尔曼就总发不好字母“R”这个音。

为了练习发好这个音，她反复听一首她称之为“塞满了‘R”的歌——林-曼努埃尔·米兰达的历史音乐剧《汉密尔顿》中的“阿龙·伯尔，阁下”唱段。

“你知道，我会尽量跟上小莱斯利·奥多姆（百老汇演出的原班人马中阿龙·伯尔的扮演者）的节奏，像他那样表演这首精彩的说唱。”戈尔曼在成功完成总统就职诗歌朗诵之后，接受美国有线电视新闻网的安德森·库珀采访时说道，“我觉得，如果我能练好这首歌，那么我就能练好读准这个字母。”

果不其然，跟着小奥多姆和米兰达的快节奏韵句练说唱的方法奏效了，戈尔曼朗诵的作品《我们攀登的山》成为乔·拜登总统就职典礼的诸多亮点之一。

和戈尔曼一样，克服言语障碍也是第46任总统人生经历中的一个转折点，而且拜登总统也非常喜欢音乐剧《汉密尔顿》（拜登担任副总统期间，百老汇原班人马曾在白宫演出，并于2020年为拜登竞选拍摄宣传视频时重聚）。

戈尔曼说，她非常感谢普利策奖获奖音乐剧《汉密尔顿》，称其“帮（她）克服了言语障碍。”

“这就是为什么我把它写进了就职典礼诗。”她告诉库珀，“此外，我也认为《汉密尔顿》是一部伟大的美国文化作品，展现了成为一个更好的国家意味着什么。”

戈尔曼在她鼓舞人心的诗中，悄悄引用了《汉密尔顿》的几处唱词，米兰达注意到了这些“机关”。他在推特上赞扬了她的表现。

“你太完美了。诗写得完美，朗诵得完美，”他写道，“每一处都棒极了！”

贝拉克·奥巴马、希拉里·克林顿和奥普拉·温弗瑞等政界名人及文化界巨头和米兰达一样对戈尔曼表示赞赏。戈尔曼在就职典礼讲台上的短短几分钟里，当她号召美国人民鼓起勇气“成为”光明时，她也因此成为了这个国家的光明。          □

1 steal the show最受欢迎;最为出彩。  2 2021年1月6日，美国国会大厦被美国时任总统唐纳德·特朗普的支持者暴力闯入，引发骚乱事件。

3美国演员、作曲家、制作人。  4 opus（由某一作曲家创作、按发表顺序编号的）音乐作品;编号作品。  5《汉密尔顿》根据美国第一任财政部长、美国开国元勋之一的亚历山大·汉密尔顿本人经历改编，由林-曼努埃尔·米兰达编剧、作曲及主演，于2015年8月6日在百老汇首演。

6 pathology病理学。  7 sneak in偷偷溜进。

Inspiring Quotes by Amanda Gorman

While we might feel small， separate， and all alone， our people have never been more tightly tethered. The questions not if we will weather this unknown， but how we will weather the unknown together.

Poetry， and art in general， means showing up with your best self. And whoever that may be， that in and of itself is beautiful. The more that we can bring our authentic selves， with hope， into the moment the more that moment will show up for us.