Out, Out Poem by Robert Frost

Out, Out

Rating: 3.2


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 that 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.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Miley Stephans 04 February 2013

I think that the fault is with the people who try to make small children work in factories. The poem blames the people who take children for work. And since they are not the ones dead, They didn't care at all.

14 25 Reply
Raquel Sanchez 07 August 2008

The title actually has quotation marks on it: 'Out, Out'. This is significant to me and is among my favorites because I see a link to Shakespeare: 'Out, out, brief candle. Life is but a walking shadow An actor that struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more.' While one is living, our very existence, regardless of the role we play, has its significance. However, upon death, the curtain falls for that person alone, and everyone remaining must resume our performances.

29 7 Reply
Unnamed Unnamed 29 September 2006

Holy crap. He's dead?

19 8 Reply
Greg Dent 02 May 2007

For my part the story is one of shock, not just that the boy died from shock, but the shock of those around him at his sudden passing....from a harmless distraction; 'supper'

20 5 Reply
Terry Moore 20 November 2006

I had to memorize a poem in 7th grade and I chose this one bc of the darkness of it, but still Frost takes the boy's death so nonchalantly. When I recited it to the class I heard many gasps lol. Good stuff...

17 5 Reply
STAY 15 October 2021

STAY

0 0 Reply
Morgan Michaels 04 July 2020

Odd that American readers must find a political culprit for this utterly non-political (and quite magnificent) poem. Our denial of death is surely at the heart of it. There must always be someone or something to blame. Sorry. Death is part of life, life is part of death. This poem speaks for the way it is. Events have no meaning in themselves. Meaning is a matter of interpretation.

1 0 Reply
Manonton Dalan 14 December 2015

way back then everybody work...nice poem

11 13 Reply
Douglas Scotney 25 September 2015

One of which, at least, must have been the funeral. I mean, even ants....

9 16 Reply
Stephen W 04 July 2013

@miley: I don't think this takes place in a factory. His sister is there. It is more likely a rural family enterprise. Also he is not a small child, but a 'big boy, Doing a man's work'. I suggest you consult the text, rather than anachronistic prejudices.

23 20 Reply
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