Watch Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Perform Her Independence Day Poem With The Boston Pops

BOSTON (CBS) – Boston's Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade Thursday night will feature a performance from the nation's first-ever Youth Poet Laureate.

Amanda Gorman, a 21-year-old senior at Harvard University, has spoken to the Library of Congress and met with former First Lady Michelle Obama. At the request of CBS This Morning, Gorman wrote a poem honoring Independence Day called "Believer's Hymn For The Republic."

In the video above, watch Gorman perform her poem at Boston's Symphony Hall with musical accompaniment from the Boston Pops playing "Battle Hymn Of The Republic."

"For it's not just in a Declaration of Independence, but the everyday declaration of its descendants that make a people equal," her poem states. "And so let us make a pact to be the country that acts as compassionate as we are courageous."

Pops conductor Keith Lockhart said at a news conference Tuesday that Gorman is "truly an extraordinarily creative force who has really brilliant, beautiful and thought-provoking things to say about this country we love."

"I know this will be a highlight of this year's program," he said.

Gorman also spoke briefly about the inspiration for her performance.

"We wanted a musical and poetic composition that felt anthemic which also spoke to the higher ideals of America - of belonging, of diversity. . . of equality."