THE GIFT
OUTRIGHT
-Robert Frost
The narrator describes
America’s history as a nation from the time of the European colonists. Although
the colonists owned the land, they could not draw a national identity from it
because they were still tied to England. They eventually realized that they
were denying their beliefs in freedom and, by embracing the lessons of the
land, were able to establish an American identity. In order to accept this gift
of identity, the people had to commit many acts of war and mark the land as
their own, but the end result was a truly American land.
This poem is
technically a sonnet, though unusual in this form because of its sixteen lines.
It is written in iambic pentameter and free verse.
This poem was written as
early as 1936, but Frost did not publish it until 1941, a few months after the
United States entered World War II. Although it had already achieved a level of
familiarity and fame among the American public, “The Gift Outright” received
special attention when Frost recited it at the inauguration of President John
F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. Frost had originally planned to recite a poem
entitled “Dedication” that he had written for the event. However, because of
the glare of the sun and his poor eyesight (he was eighty-seven years old at
the time), he was unable to read his copy of the poem and instead recited “The
Gift Outright.”
From one perspective, this
poem may seem to be nothing more than a triumphantly patriotic work; Frost
himself once compared it to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The colonists in
America initially struggled to become one with the land because of their ties
to England. As years passed, however, they were able to build a commitment to
the land and establish their identities as Americans because of their efforts
to build a land that was not based on the traditions of Europe. In this way,
the poem can be read as Frost’s personal celebration of manifest destiny.
The broad enthusiasm for
America that characterizes the poem takes an unexpected turn in the grave
thirteenth line: “(The deed of gift was many deeds of war.)” Suddenly, the poem
is not only about a commitment to the land, but also a discussion of the
Revolutionary War and remorse that the battle over the land caused so many
deaths. The use of parentheses in this particular line ensures that the
specifics of the war are not mentioned, but does insist that the memory of the
war should not be forgotten or cast aside.
The poem can also be read as
somewhat defensive and even belligerent in terms of its approach to the land.
Frost repeats the term “ours” numerous times in the text, but insists that the
“we” of the poem is the white settlers from Europe, rather than the original
“owners” of the land: the Native Americans. Frost chooses to ignore the
conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans and instead focuses on
the clash between the Old World and the New World, the European world of
tradition and oppression and the new American world of freedom and destiny. As
a result, the type of American identity that Frost expresses is very different
from the contemporary understanding of the American identity as an amalgamation
of different cultures and ethnicities.
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