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 it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them ‘Supper’. At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap–
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh.
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all–
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart–
He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then — the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little — less — nothing! — and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
‘Out, Out–‘
Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem ‘Out, Out–‘
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i read it only because i had a presentation about a poem and i found this an read it.
my fav line is ‘sun set far into vermont’ as it means a number of things such as the day is coming to an end and there is an end to the boys life. this is a great use of imagery as it gives you the nostalgic feeling.
im 15 and studying robert frost for GSCE. so if anyone could help i would be v. grateful. although i do think the poem shows great use of alliteration and personification.
In looking at Frost’s poem, we have to realize first that this poem uses Macbeth’s famous soliloquy to reinforce the theme that life is “brief and uncertain.” Now that we have the theme, we can try to apply certain literay term’s importance to the poem including the onomatopoeia of the snarling and buzzing saw, the repetition of these words illustrates the malice of death, along with the act of the saw leaping at the boy’s hand, not allowing the boy to cease his work to take a break for supper. The saw is a sort of metaphorical representation of the way the meaningless tasks of life (including sawing wood and doing waste of time essays like these) prevents us from living our lives, it is illstrated that the boy believes that his manly work has denied him life (“Then the boy saw all–/ Since he was old enough to know, big boy/ Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart–/ He saw all spoiled.”) We can possibly assume that the careless “child” that the boy was allowed his hand to meet with the say because of the way Frost show’s the boy’s meeting with the saw (“with a rueful laugh”). But most importantly the last line of the poem must be observed “And they, since they/ Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs,” because this shows the emotionless, miserable life these people lived in order to put this boy to work, deny him even the half hour for relief from work.
I have an exam tomorrow on Frost so here goes my final attempts at understanding his poems. I defitely agree that it’s not that the family are heartless but that because they live in a rural setting then they must move on. It was quite common for rural families to react in that way as it was also their way of grieving. If you look at Frost’s other poem ‘Home Burial’ you will see two very different reactions of a child’s death from a married man and woman. The man reacts in the same way as the rural family in ‘Out, Out!” whereas the woman is deeply grieving and can’t understand how her husband can just get on with things. It’s definitely an interesting interpretation of rural life, especially since Frost himself did live in rural New England
Bah. writing an essay about this poem, Kristina on page 3 was quite helpful, got me thinking about some things.
this poem was ok, it was kind of weird cause it talks about a boy gettin his hand cut off by a chain saw but it was pretty interesting. Lets just say that it keep me reading it so that has to say something since i dont even like poetry and i would have never read this if my teacher wouldnt have made me. But ya know it was ok
It’s significant that only 3 lines in the poem actually mention the boy dying. The other workers don’t care about the boy because he was only valued as a worker, not as a person. Also, in the last 7 lines when the boy is dying, there is a notable absence of his family members.
tihs poem was good one of my favorites by frost!!!!!
this poem was a great poem and I really enjoyed it
The poem has a very poignant ending that reinforces what the poem is about and shows emotion
This is one of my more enjoyable poems. The way this poem ends is very to the point, one of Frosts best, definatley one for the ages.
I love this poem; the end two lines are just so practical “No more to build on there. And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”. And the personification of the saw, is just so cute and yet when you realise what’s happened it’s like a blow. The reason that this poem is sooo good is that it deals with death with a sad practicality.
Besides being related to Shakespeare, one can also say that the poem is related to William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, where the fall of innocence is present. In “Out, Out–”, the boy’s hand gets cut off and he sees all. He sees the real world as it really is, as a world of cold, almost heartless nature. In The Lord of the Flies, Ralph sees the innate evil nature of man and especially the loss of innocence in man. Ralph finally sees just how evil man is, and can no longer go back to his innocent phase of life. That is one the themes in The Lord of the Flies and, in “Out, Out–”, a main theme is how life goes on.
i love how this poem reflects the dark thoughts in Macbeth. “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…” Thats exactly what this poem is about. The boy has a short and unfulfiling life. He dies young and is “heard no more.” I think its funny that he compares life to a candle and then says it is heard no more… lol… a candle was never “heard” in the first place…
The poems about a young boy who gets his hand chopped off, his peers and other people around him MUST get on with life, they have no time to mourn, this is not aacceptable now a days but could have been common in 1916. The poem shows great resemblemence to macbeth an this is why the title is out out.
This poem is wonderfully written in verse befitting Shakespeare. The allusion to “MacBeth” is so powerful. It doesn’t give an explanation of the soliloquy that partly inspired “Out, Out–“, but it does present the same puzzle to the reader which he/she must figure out: The mystery of life, the contemplation of death, and the will to move on.
I am also researching this poem and I found something interesting that you guys should know. Frost wrote this poem after reading a artical in the newspaper. Here it is: Lancaster, Nov 18th– John M. Adams, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Adams, Route 3, Riverton, died last Saturday evening as a result of injuries he received while operating a power saw on his parent’s farm.
The accident happened late Saturday afternoon while young Adams, his brother Stephen, 12, and his father were sawing logs. Apparently the boy was momentarily distracted while feeding a piece of wood into the blade, which caught his hand and amputated it.
The youth’s sister, Maude, 17, was witness to the accident. She said that her mother had sent her to call her father and brother to supper. The accident occurred, she said, just as she called to them.
Mr. Adams immediately drove to nearby Riverton for a doctor. He finally located Dr. E. L. White and drove him back to the farm.
Dr. White said that when he arrived the boy was already in shock from loss of blood, and that it was impossible to save him. The cause of death was listed by the coroner as accidental.
Funeral services on Tuesday were held in Riverton Congregational Church, and internment was in Good Hope Cemetery.
i think that perhaps the boy who dies in the poem maybe wants to injure himself to get out of work as he doesnt like it and because it says “a child at heart” he was foolish and didnt realise what the consequences would be, DEATH!
i think that perhaps the boy who dies in the poem maybe wants to injure himself to get out of work as he doesnt like it and because it says “a child at heart” he was foolish and didnt realise what the consequences would be, DEATH!