

It will be an uphill battle to find a compromise. To face an uphill battle = to be confronted with a very difficult situation Initially, the company went through (=experienced) a successful phase (=period), but, unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.Īfter she left her company, her health started going downhill. You can find this metaphor in a number of expressions as listed below: In English, the metaphor of climbing a hill stands for someone facing a challenge. Instead she evokes (=makes people think of) images they associate with climbing a hill.

Gorman uses the metaphor of a hill which, of course, is literally a small mountain (very small, indeed), but what does the image suggest to the audience? It does, of course, not suggest that you should actually climb a hill. GradeSaver, Web.In the title of her poem Ms. "The Hill We Climb Symbols, Allegory and Motifs". These paired symbols can be found in the lines "when day comes," "light in this never-ending shade," "the dawn is ours," "we step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid," "new dawn blooms," and "there is always light." Next Section Translation Controversy Surrounding The Hill We Climb Previous Section The Hill We Climb Summary and Analysis Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Tran, Angela. Light in these lines represents hope, and darkness represents fear and despair. The beginning and end of the poem contain references to dawn and light after a period of darkness.

This recurring image reminds the audience of hope's omnipresence, and encourages us to "see" and "be" the hope in an eternal shade. At the end of the poem, these same images return, with Gorman emphasizing that hope is always present, despite the seemingly never-ending darkness. The poem continues by saying that "the dawn is ours," implying that the light of the rising sun is our hope, our courage. Darkness has seemingly become eternal, but these two lines remind us that light will eventually come. Light and Shade (Motif)įrom the opening lines of the poem, the image of day arriving after a long period of night immediately forces the audience to associate light with hope and shade with fear and loss.

With the title, "climb" is in the present tense, indicating an ongoing struggle to overcome the "hill" of challenges. In a larger sense, the hill can also represent the struggles from America's past and present that still need to be overcome. Because of the riots that happened shortly before, this reference also tries to head the damage done by the riot and reimagine the space as one that belongs to "we," the people. It may refer to Capitol Hill, the location of this poem's performance at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The image of the hill in the poem's title can have two meanings.
