Out of This World. . . Forever Blood, gore, and death are not common occurrences in your everyday poems. The dominant narrative of poetry is centered on its more romantic aspects. As a prime example that not everything is sugar, spice, and everything nice, Robert Frost’s poem “Out, Out” provides us with the grim—yet refreshing—truth and reality faced by many children in the early 20th century—child labor.
One of poetry’s most celebrated writers, Robert Frost was the epitome of eloquence. Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. Always sharp, Frost graduated high school having written his first poems and as co-valedictorian of his class. He went on to attend Dartmouth and Harvard although he never graduated or got a degree. …show more content…
She has blood on her hands, and is unable to get it off. Ultimately, the only way to purge herself of the blood, and ensuing guilt, is through suicide.
In order to better understand and analyze the poem, the reader must evaluate the poem’s background. In “Out, Out,” Frost aims to provide a metaphor for the unnecessary cruelties of work. The young boy is unjustly sent out to cut “stove-length sticks of wood” (Frost 2) for survival, being denied a reprieve until dinner. In a moment of carelessness, he ends up cutting off his hand instead, accelerating his death. The boy’s sudden, premature death prompts the reader to question the importance of work.
The poem is told from a third-person point-of-view. The speaker is an outsider looking at the situation from afar. He is aware of what is going on and realizes the ramifications of a child using a power tool yet does little to intervene. Near the end, the reader can infer that the narrator is the only one aware of the cruelty of what just happened—the only one showing any sign of remorse at the boy’s death and compassion as others turned away unaffected since “they were not the one dead” (Frost …show more content…
The poem isn't meant for a single person. The narrator speaks as if he is talking to whoever is there observing the tragedyAs with any literary work, “Out, Out” is complex and multifaceted. In the beginning of the story, Frost uses a plethora of visual imagery to set the scene and tone. The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across
One of poetry’s most celebrated writers, Robert Frost was the epitome of eloquence. Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. Always sharp, Frost graduated high school having written his first poems and as co-valedictorian of his class. He went on to attend Dartmouth and Harvard although he never graduated or got a degree. …show more content…
She has blood on her hands, and is unable to get it off. Ultimately, the only way to purge herself of the blood, and ensuing guilt, is through suicide.
In order to better understand and analyze the poem, the reader must evaluate the poem’s background. In “Out, Out,” Frost aims to provide a metaphor for the unnecessary cruelties of work. The young boy is unjustly sent out to cut “stove-length sticks of wood” (Frost 2) for survival, being denied a reprieve until dinner. In a moment of carelessness, he ends up cutting off his hand instead, accelerating his death. The boy’s sudden, premature death prompts the reader to question the importance of work.
The poem is told from a third-person point-of-view. The speaker is an outsider looking at the situation from afar. He is aware of what is going on and realizes the ramifications of a child using a power tool yet does little to intervene. Near the end, the reader can infer that the narrator is the only one aware of the cruelty of what just happened—the only one showing any sign of remorse at the boy’s death and compassion as others turned away unaffected since “they were not the one dead” (Frost …show more content…
The poem isn't meant for a single person. The narrator speaks as if he is talking to whoever is there observing the tragedyAs with any literary work, “Out, Out” is complex and multifaceted. In the beginning of the story, Frost uses a plethora of visual imagery to set the scene and tone. The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across