‘Out, Out—’
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 him 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.
In the comments section below- analyze this poem by Robert Frost. Think about what we do when we analyze a poem. Use the text to support your analysis, cite line numbers when quoting.
I am looking forward to reading what you come up with.
“Out, Out” by Robert Frost portrays a message about life through the dark story about a young boy. Throughout the poem, Frost places images that are quite opposite right next to each other. This creates a very diverse mood, meaning it evokes different feelings. For example, he discusses the sound of a saw with words such as “snarled” and “rattled.” Then he describes the breeze with words such as “sweet-scented.” The contrast he creates with these words creates a mood that is generally light and joyful, but also gloomy and serious. The volta in this poem occurs when the young boy’s sister calls him in for supper. At this point, the story takes a dark turn. The saw that the boy is using slips and cuts his hand. A doctor comes to treat the boy, and ultimately decides to cut off his hand. Frost uses the loss of the boy’s hand to symbolize how disposable and brief life can be. He further explains life’s fragility by having the boy die. Frost lived in a time period where death was common in a community. The way in which he explains the death of the boy proves how he feels about how his society reacts to death. The poem goes on stating, “Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it. No more to build on there.” (Lines 30-31) Frost declares the death as if it was an ordinary occurrence. The last line contains a similar message about society. Frost writes about how the people react after the boy dies. “And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.” (Lines 33-34) By including how the people responded to the death of the boy, Frost is stating how humans tend to be ignorant of the things that do not directly affect them.
ReplyDeleteThis poem begins on a high note, admiring how beautiful nature is as the sun dips below the mountain range as the young boy saws wood, but it takes a violent turn. The boy accidentally saws off his hand and when he goes to get it amputated, he dies under anesthesia because he has lost too much blood. This poem not only evokes sympathy for the boy, but also the anger with the doctors and sister for letting the boy die. Robert Frost criticizes how people only care about themselves in how he portrays the doctors turning their back because the death of the little boy didn't involve or concern them. "And they, since they/ were not the one dead, turning to their affairs." (Lines 33-34) He also seems to accuse the parents of not allowing the boy to live his childhood and forcing him to grow up to fast. "Since he was old enough to know, big boy/ doing a man's work, though a child at heart." (Lines 23-24) These lines reveal to us that the boy was much smarter than he should have been at his age, for he knew he would die. Frost, instead of blaming the boy for his fault, uses personification to portray the saw coming alive. "As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,/ leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap." (Lines 15-16) Using this literary device, again Frost gives an accuse for the boy's mistake.
ReplyDeleteRobert Frost’s poem “Out Out-” explores the ultimate insignificance of human life. It is written in the third person (without any mention to personal matters or feelings) and tells the story of a young boy who accidentally drops a buzz-saw on his hand upon being called in for dinner. His hand being amputated, he dies without leaving a lasting impact on others in his life. The poem begins with the boy working with his saw. The sky billowing with saw dust and his fatigue suggest his hard work that he had done throughout the day. “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.” (Page 12, 8-11) This hard work can be directly contrasted to the concluding line “And they, since they/Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.” (Page 13, 33-34) It shows that despite the arduous labor, the boy’s life could so easily be forgotten because of everybody’s self-centeredness. This lends itself to the theme of life’s insignificance due to human self-absorption, consistent with Macbeth’s: “Out, out, brief candle!” Frost, in the opening lines of the poem, employs symbolism, contrasting the insignificance of sawdust to the grandeur of the mountain ranges in the distance. In this way, the brevity and insignificance of human life can be concentrated to all things eternal. There is very little tone apparent through poetic words- simply the events of this story themselves illustrate a very blunt, matter-of-fact affair. The volta occurs once the boy dies, as then, the significance of his life begins to resolve into the void of time. Frost, here, is doing as many great thinkers have done before him and will so after him- question the meaning of life. In terms of significance in the eternity of the universe, human life appears to be dust (ashes to ashes, dust to dust) as it is so seen in the opening lines of this poem.
ReplyDeleteFrost’s “Out, Out-” puts people’s expectations of the meaning of life in a new perspective by illustrating that life is nothing but a start and an end. At first, the poem’s setting and mood is an innocent, beautiful Vermont setting; by using words such as “sweet-scented” and “sunset” Frost gives the impression of a young boy hoping for a break in his hard work. He demonstrates the boy’s innocence by describing the boy needing to be “saved from work,” imagery used to show an exhausted and young boy who the reader feels bad for. However, when the boy joyfully lets go of his saw because he is given a well-deserved break, the mood of the poem changes to a bloody, hopeless scene. For example, Frost writes that the boy tries to “keep the life from spilling.” The author’s dark imagery continues until the end of the poem, and the ultimate result of the boy’s sudden death is indifference. The theme of this poem is that the never-ending mystery of the value of life because he portrays life as “little-less-nothing!” He furthers this theme by ending the poem with, “And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.” This shows the lack of compassion for the dead, pure young boy; suggesting the idea that death means nothing. Just as in Macbeth, the true meaning of life is thrown into question when the characters realize that there might not be one.
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ReplyDeleteThe poem “Out, Out” by Robert Frost gives off many feelings and what it means to its readers. When I first read “Out, Out” by Robert Frost I thought it was about an outdoors adventure, or living outdoors but right as I got to line 14 I realized what was going to happen lines 14 to 22. It said,
“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—“(page 12, 14-22)
After I read this I felt a deep sorrow and sadness come to my heart. This poem shows a boy and his family doing outdoor work and having a good time come to the boy almost dying by the saw. It showed deep morbid feelings and sadness when you reach lines 25 to 26. These lines say,
“He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
But the hand was gone already.” (pages 12-13, 25-26)
These lines show the unbelievable has happened and the boy hasn’t even come to grips on what happened yet. It shows beauty, sadness, and hopelessness all in one little piece of writing…
"Out Out" by Robert Frost is a poem that teaches us about how fleeting life is and how precious it can be. Frost begins the poem with scenic imagery of beautiful Vermont, with the sweet scent of fresh cut wood, five mountains towering in the background, “Five mountain ranges one behind the other” (Line 5). He describes a young boy, who after a long day of cutting wood with a saw is called in for supper by his sister. Eager for a break and for the long day to end, he drops the saw. The volta in “Out Out” is in line 14 where, unfortunately for the boy, the saw is still running. “To tell them ‘Supper.’ At the word, the saw, (Line 14)”. Frost paints a gruesome picture of a hand, dripping blood from a fresh wound, and the poor boy, trying to keep “The life from spilling.” (Line 22). He begged his sister not to let the doctor cut his hand off. The doctor is called, however, the boy, in a surprising twist ending, dies of blood loss. “Out Out” is derived from a famous soliloquy acted out in the Shakespeare play Macbeth. In this scene, Lady Macbeth has just died. Macbeth is surprisingly indifferent, however, he reflects on how short and fleeting life is, “A poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more”. This poem by Robert Frost also reflects on how short life is, but also how it must be treasured and how we must enjoy however much of it we have left.
ReplyDelete"Out, Out" is a poem by Robert Frost. It begins with the admiration of nature through the eyes of a young boy who is out working in the woods. I believe the volta of this poem is when in all of a sudden, the boy's hand gets sawed off when his sister calls him in for supper. This poem's mood after the turning point becomes gory and fearful. As the doctor meets with the boy to attempt to fix his hand, the boy yells towards his sister in pain, fear, and anger to not let the doctor cut off his hand. I think Robert Frost is trying to portray the doctor as the majority of the people in this world. The doctor does what he can to try and save the boy from bleeding to death but once he dies, the doctor goes along with his affairs like any other day of his life. This poem can connect to many current events with deaths. They are exploited through the news channels, newspapers, and online. When they finally get to the bottom of the case, or come to some conclusion, everyone seems as if they forget it happened and just go about their daily lives. He portrays the boy as one that would be much smarter than the rest of the boys his age. He knew that once his hand began to bleed too much, death was inevitable. In this poem, Frost makes it seem as if life is something that isn't of great importance to everyone. It seems to only matter if its your own life being effected or taken away.
ReplyDeleteThe poem begins with imagery, “...made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,/ Sweet scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.” (2-3). Frost paints a beautiful picture that I personally interpret as a Vermont farm on a fall evening. This lovely description is intermingled with the rattling of the buzz saw, almost as if Frost is putting two stories into one. The poem then abruptly switches to the tale of the boy using the buzz saw and his desire to end the work day. The poem also gives us the ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling of family in the lines, “His sister stood beside him in her apron/ To tell them ‘Supper.’”(13-14). After this line, however, comes the poem’s volta: “the saw,/ As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,/Leaped out at the boy’s hand” (14-16). In this stanza, the saw is portrayed as having a mind of its own, which is an interesting twist to the tone of the poem. When the boy’s hand is sliced by the saw, his first reaction was “a rueful laugh” (19), which then turned to fear and worry. This portion of the poem displays the danger of “[a boy] Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart-” (24). This stanza also emphasizes what comes with maturity and assuming the responsibilities of adults. When handling the buzz saw, the boy needed to know how be careful and mature, and he had to be able to deal with his mistakes. The boy becomes extremely frightened when he realizes his hand must be cut off, which is symbolic that he is not ready to take on the difficult man’s world. Having adult responsibilities and privileges comes with sacrifice, in the same way that having the challenging, albeit fun job of handling the buzz saw comes with the need to have the right maturity and mindset to correctly and safely do the job, and be able to deal with your failures and shortcomings. This small failure, however, destroyed the boy. “-the watcher at his pulse took fright...They listened at his heart...nothing!-and that ended it.” (30-32). This shows that an adult world would destroy the boy and swallow him whole, and he could never overcome his mistakes, and for that reason, they would be the death of him.
ReplyDelete"Out, out" by Robert frost immediately sets a strong tone from the beginning, but has significant tone changes throughout the poem. The author uses dark and serious imagery to set the tone and to show what direction the poem is headed in. He uses specific imagery examples to evoke different feelings and give out emotion. He expresses the ideas of pain and worry through his imagery and uses specific words to set the tone. The author is using this poem to express and show how improbable life is and that nobody knows what is going to happen next. "As he swung toward them holding up the hand half in appeal, but half as if to keep the life from spilling." (Lines 19-21) this quote shows how this poem is trying to signify how life is so important, by comparing it to a hand. The feelings are dramatic, comparing life to a hand, but shows the importance to life. The theme of this poem is showing the value of life and expressing the importance of not taking anything for granted. The imagery stays dark and eerie, and stays that way until the death of the little boy. This poem shows how life can be easily taken for granted and how people do not realize this unless it is their own life at sake.
ReplyDelete“Out, Out” by Robert Frost shows how valuable life truly is. You never know when you may pass away or cut your hand off with a saw. The poem starts off by putting an image in your mind by describing the scene with much detail. It seems as if nothing could ever go wrong. “Five mountain ranges one behind the other/Under the sunset far into Vermont.” (Robert Frost lines 5-6) A young boy is working in the woods cutting wood and hears his sister calling to inform him that supper is ready. All of a sudden, the boy sang out a loud outcry, and his hand was no longer fully intact. The young boy and his sister went to the doctor’s and the boy kept saying ‘Don’t let them cut my hand off’, however, the hand was already gone and he was slowly beginning to pass away “They listened to his heart. /Little-less-nothing!- and that ended it.”(lines 31-32) The volta, from my perspective, occurred when the boy first screamed out to his sister. This poem changed drastically from a beautiful sunset to death in the matter of 20 lines.
ReplyDelete“Out, Out” by Robert Frost shows how valuable life truly is. You never know when you may pass away or cut your hand off with a saw. The poem starts off by putting an image in your mind by describing the scene with much detail. It seems as if nothing could ever go wrong. “Five mountain ranges one behind the other/Under the sunset far into Vermont.” (Robert Frost lines 5-6) A young boy is working in the woods cutting wood and hears his sister calling to inform him that supper is ready. All of a sudden, the boy sang out a loud outcry, and his hand was no longer fully intact. The young boy and his sister went to the doctor’s and the boy kept saying ‘Don’t let them cut my hand off’, however, the hand was already gone and he was slowly beginning to pass away “They listened to his heart. /Little-less-nothing!- and that ended it.”(lines 31-32) The volta, from my perspective, occurred when the boy first screamed out to his sister. This poem changed drastically from a beautiful sunset to death in the matter of 20 lines.
ReplyDeleteRobert Frost’s poem describes the moment that a young boy cuts his hand and consequently dies after a long day’s work. The poem’s beginning is neither dark nor happy, but rather simply gives a description of the calm environment before the boy’s day takes a tragic turn. It offers some great imagery, allowing us to smell the sweetness of the wood and feel windy breezes. As the boy’s sister calls him in for dinner, he becomes distracted for just a brief moment and cuts his hand. It is here that I began to pick up on the piece’s main theme. Frost illustrates life’s shortness, and that although it may seem endless and continuous, it is simply a brief moment in all of the world’s totality. He warns that life is fickle, and can be ended prematurely or unexpectedly in a brief moment as well. The boy’s life is represented by the blood flowing from his wounded hand. “...half as if to keep/ The life from spilling.” As a result from the most brief of moments, his life began to flow out from him, just as his blood streams from his gash. His life is also represented by his severed hand, “But the hand was gone already.” Frost’s last few lines depict our irrelevance and seemingly trivial role the scheme of things. “No more to build on there. And they, since they/ Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.” Death may impact our family and close ones, but ultimately they and all others must at some point return to their own brief life. Another theme, although maybe not a very major one, that I picked up on was about maturity. The boy, who was “Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart,” may have lost a significant time of development in his life by being pushed to adulthood prematurely. When looking into this theme, the blood could represent the lost childish innocence and his chopped off hand could represent the lost childhood as a whole.
ReplyDeleteRobert Frost has been critically acclaimed for his excellent use of literary elements as well as for his ability to write poems with incredible themes. "Out, Out-" is no exception. The poem begins with a boy chopping wood. Although wood chopping is considered a strenuous job, Frost purposefully calls the protagonist a "boy" to highlight his innocence. Frost then adds another character to the mix in the form of the saw. The saw seems to be considered almost a live object with thoughts and intentions as shown in the quote, "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." (14-17) During the time of the poem's creation, WWI was raging on, so I believe that "Out, Out-" was directed at how the governments and leaders of the fighting countries might not have as firm a handle on how much life is worth as others. The volta of the poem is in this quote, "Then the boy saw all—/Since he was old enough to know, big boy/Doing a man’s work, though child at heart—/He saw all spoiled." (23-25). This line shows how the boy, who represents governments in WWI, realized after they saw their casualties that life is gritty and rough. All of these reasons show why Robert Frost is a pioneer, and why "Out, Out-" is some of his best work.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Robert Frost’s poem “Out, Out” it gives the reader a chance to feel different emotions. It also teaches the reader to appreciate life and not take it for granted. “Five mountain ranges one behind the other. Under the sunset far into Vermont” (Lines 5-6). These two lines in the beginning of the poem give the reader a happy feeling because you can imagine the mountain range in your head. This poem tells how the boy is working with wood by cutting it and then his sister is telling him that dinner is ready. “Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap-” (Line 16) this gave a feeling of how when his sister called him for supper he got really excited. But, unfortunately he was too excited that he cut his own hand off with the saw. “He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off—The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister” (Lines 25-26). Those lines give a sad and upset feeling because the doctor wants to amputate the hand but, the boy is begging his sister not to let him. This poem was also very imaginative because I could picture everything that was happening in my head.
ReplyDelete'Out, Out-' by Robert Frost portrays the death of a boy through the eyes of a man in Vermont. The speaker thinks back and details a narrative about a boy cutting firewood with a buzz saw. Frost writes a breezy twilight scene in which the day is about the end; it is a scene of serenity broken only by the snarl of the saw. This scene is torn apart by a volta of a single word, "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" (14-17). The saw is personified into a beast, leaping out at the boy. It has a mind of its own and almost removes all blame from the boy, who Frost calls "a child at heart". Robert Frost writes a morbid tale to the theme of the fragility of life, and the swiftness of death. One can read the regret pouring from the narrator as he recalls what he had wanted the other adults to do, "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" (10-12). Frost makes sure to emphasize how innocent and blameless the boy was in all of this and how needless his death was. Then, he reflects on how little an impact the boy's death had on the others, who just went back to work,seeing as they were still alive.
ReplyDelete“Out, Out -” by Robert Frost is a grim poem about mortality. It begins by setting a rather tranquil mood, describing in beautiful detail the sounds, sights, and smells of a boy cutting down trees in Vermont with a buzzsaw. The poem’s tone is initially about as ordinary as possible; the reader gets the sense that this is a day just like all the others, that the boy is simply going about his daily business, perhaps eager for a bite to eat and the end of a hard day’s work. But as his sister calls him to supper, the poem reaches its volta; suddenly, tragedy strikes; the boy’s hand meets his saw, and is destroyed by the running blade. The poem’s tone is suddenly much more frantic. The boy is hysterical about the notion of having to lose his hand, of a life of disability, and begs his sister not to let the doctor amputate. But his hand cannot be saved, so the doctor puts the boy under and begins to operate. As the boy’s hand is being removed, his pulse suddenly stops; those present can do nothing but watch as his heartbeat grows fainter and fainter until it ceases altogether. And, the climax reached, the poem’s tone is again calm and peaceful; while one might expect to describe Frost to describe frantic attempts to revive the boy, or his sister’s despair and anxiety, he describes only a quiet resignation, and a return to daily life; “...that ended it. No more to build on there. And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs” (29-31)
ReplyDeleteThis poem concerns some of the grimmest aspects of the already grim nature of death. First, it deals with the abruptness with which death often strikes; the poem’s calm, peaceful, almost mundane beginning starkly outlines the suddenness and unexpectedness of the boy’s accident. Secondly, it brings to light an even harsher reality; after the boy is confirmed dead, the poem’s anxious and agitated mood suddenly dissipates, reverting to its former tone of detached, almost indifferent description. This makes clear the distressing fact that, after a death, those who are not dead simply go on with their lives. This gives the poem an almost nihilistic tone; the indifference with which the boy’s death is described makes it seem as if his death, but more importantly death in general, is inconsequential. This element of nihilism is reinforced by the poem’s title, a reference to the title character’s famous soliloquy on the meaninglessness of life in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
An unknown speaker, not specifically Frost, narrates “Out, Out-” a poem written by Robert Frost. The 3rd person narrator appears to be reflecting on previous events that have happened in his life. The tragedy in this scene is somewhat lost by the lack of an emotional connection between himself and his parents. The silence from the lack of emotions shown allows the reader to add their own reactions and feel their initial reactions to the poem. The setting illustrated, puts the reader in a cold winter with the comfort of a burning fire in Vermont. For me, the title is the most important part. It reminds me of a scene from Macbeth where Macbeth is mourning the loss of his wife. The poems mood relates closely to Macbeth, humans are helpless creatures who fall susceptible to many of life’s pains such as an unexpected or brutal death. Researching this poem online, I discovered that Robert Frost did indeed have a neighbor who had his hand sliced off by a saw, also. After learning this, it brings me closer to the idea that this poem could be portraying Frost’s actually feeling upon reflecting this traumatic event.
ReplyDeleteOut, Out-' by Robert Frost portrays the death of a boy through the eyes of a man in Vermont. The speaker thinks back and details a narrative about a boy cutting firewood with a buzz saw. Frost writes a breezy twilight scene in which the day is about the end; it is a scene of serenity broken only by the snarl of the saw. This scene is torn apart by a volta of a single word, "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" (14-17). The saw is personified into a beast, leaping out at the boy. It has a mind of its own and almost removes all blame from the boy, who Frost calls "a child at heart". Robert Frost writes a morbid tale to the theme of the fragility of life, and the swiftness of death. One can read the regret pouring from the narrator as he recalls what he had wanted the other adults to do, "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" (10-12). Frost makes sure to emphasize how innocent and blameless the boy was in all of this and how needless his death was. Then, he reflects on how little an impact the boy's death had on the others, who just went back to work,seeing as they were still alive.
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Out, Out-' by Robert Frost portrays the death of a boy through the eyes of a man in Vermont. The speaker thinks back and details a narrative about a boy cutting firewood with a buzz saw. Frost writes a breezy twilight scene in which the day is about the end; it is a scene of serenity broken only by the snarl of the saw. This scene is torn apart by a volta of a single word, "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" (14-17). The saw is personified into a beast, leaping out at the boy. It has a mind of its own and almost removes all blame from the boy, who Frost calls "a child at heart". Robert Frost writes a morbid tale to the theme of the fragility of life, and the swiftness of death. One can read the regret pouring from the narrator as he recalls what he had wanted the other adults to do, "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" (10-12). Frost makes sure to emphasize how innocent and blameless the boy was in all of this and how needless his death was. Then, he reflects on how little an impact the boy's death had on the others, who just went back to work,seeing as they were still alive.