THHS Giancarlo Frank

English 3 Band 7

Robert Frost, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, wrote many

poems over the course of his life. Inspired by Romantic like William Wordsworth, most

of his poems depict accounts of life in the countryside. Although of some of his more

famous poems include “The Road Not Taken” the class and Stopping by the Woods on a

Snowy Evening,” he has written many others, and many of these contained dark themes

that reflected his restlessness and troubled past.

Robert Frost’s “Out,Out” carries a rather sad message about how suddenly death

can descend upon us. In this blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) poem, a boy

operating a buzz saw has his hand badly injured in an accident and dies from his injuries

shortly afterwards. The title of the poem itself seems to be as death related as the rest of

the poem, as it is reminds any avid Shakespeare reader of the famous lines from his play

Macbeth,

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
 Signifying nothing.”
Macbeth Act 5,scene 5, 19-28
In Line 23, the character mentions the words, “Out, out,” which are all to similar to the

title of this poem. In the same way that Macbeth wishes for suicide, something that is

irreversible, and so closely related to death, the boy in this poem dies from his injuries,

and it cannot be stopped. The buzzsaw is said to have “leaped out at the boy’s hand”

(Frost 16), the unfortunate accident that fatally wounds the boy. When the doctor arrives,

as he takes the child’s pulse, he can feel his pulse gradually decreasing, until he is dead.

Frost writes, “since they/Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.”(31-32). Although

it seems so sudden and unfortunate, as if the boy was insignificant, Frost leaves us with

the important message that death, like any hardship, can be sudden and unexpected, and

is something that you must overcome to move on in life.

Although both poems are written in the same meter of iambic pentameter, they

have very different themes. Unlike “Out, Out,” Robert Frost’s “Dedication” celebrates

not only life, but the idea of glory and history. Written in commemoration of John F.

Kennedy’s 1961inaugaration, it tells the story of how our country came to be. The change

in times meant a change in views for the world, helping to make the United States into

what it is today. Although the history of the United States has been one of revolution, and

many revolutions have taken place since before we were even independent of English

rule, Frost argues that “Our venture in revolution and outlawry/Has justified itself in

freedom's story/Right down to now in glory upon glory.” (Frost 52-54). He argues here

that it is the spirit of rebellion and revolution that has made this country into what it is

today, and will continue to mold this country in the future. Just as he makes the point that

our revolutions have been just ones, the point is made that a revolution cannot simply be
held for the sake of such, and must be a cause beneficial to the ongoing story of freedom

that our country has been writing for over two hundred years.

As Robert Frost has become one of the 20th century’s most famous poets, his

poems have taken on characters of their own, some being celebratory, while others are

dark, scary, or even suicidal. Each of his poems, however, have very meaningful themes,

life lessons that we can act upon as individuals. The way in which we decide to live, both

as individuals and as people, will determine our place in the world. When our dreams,

hopes, or loved ones die, will we be able to move on without them? When the flame of

inspiration goes out, will we be able to look into our glorious past as we attempt to see

our future? Frost believed that we could, and that through all of the troubles we encounter

in our lives, that we might someday achieve the dream that he tried to help others see

through his works, “a golden age of poetry and power” (Frost, “Dedication”, Line 77).
 Works Cited

1) Character, By. ""Dedication" - The Complete Text." PBS: Public Broadcasting

Service. Web. 20 Oct. 2010.

2)<http://www.pbs.org/newshour/inauguration/frost_poem.html>.
Frost, Robert. ""Out, Out"" Mountain Interval. The Ketzles. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.ketzle.com/frost/outout.htm>.