I never saw the delivery and it may have been awesome. (There were a couple of good lines that I can imagine sounding great - "It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit./It’s the past we step into and how we repair it." Punchy, to the point, and a nice, surprising rhyme.)

Speech can change things. I once heard a brilliant reading of someone's translations of Mickiewicz (Poland's national poet). I bought the book and it was disappointing how the stuff didn't stand up on the page. Really good work - at least in poetry - should be able to cope with being read as well as being listened to.