'Out,+Out'

[| **1**] The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard 2 And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, 3 Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. 4 And from there those that lifted eyes could count 5 Five mountain ranges one behind the other 6 Under the sunset far into Vermont. 7 And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled, 8 As it ran light, or had to bear a load. 9 And nothing happened: day was all but done. 10 Call it a day, I wish they might have said 11 To please the boy by giving him the half hour 12 That a boy counts so much when saved from work. 13 His sister stood beside them in her apron 14 To tell them "Supper." At the word, the saw, 15 As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, 16 Leaped out at the boy's hand, or seemed to leap-- 17 He must have given the hand. However it was, 18 Neither refused the meeting. But the hand! 19 The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh, 20 As he swung toward them holding up the hand 21 Half in appeal, but half as if to keep 22 The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all-- 23 Since he was old enough to know, big boy 24 Doing a man's work, though a child at heart-- 25 He saw all spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off--   26 The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!" 27 So. But the hand was gone already. 28 The doctor put him in the dark of ether. 29 He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath. 30 And then--the watcher at his pulse took fright. 31 No one believed. They listened at his heart. 32 Little--less--nothing!--and that ended it. 33 No more to build on there. And they, since they 34 Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.


 * FACT SHEET: “Out, Out” Robert Frost (by Julie B.) **

** Context: ** · Frost wrote **“Out, Out” ** around 1915. Frost took the title from a famous quote in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. In Macbeth’s speech, Macbeth compares life to a burning candle that can be snuffed out any time: ‘Out, out, brief candle’. ** Other Info: ** · Told by a narrator · Very detached emotion · Injects in line 10 · Imagery: § Central image – boy bleeding to death * Gives the reader thoughts of his death * “life…spilling…” ¾ Blood spilling out of his body bleeding to death * Clear image of boy dying * Helps reader to imagine death § Dramatic image – boy hand and saw making contact * “neither refused the meeting” ¾ Ironic metaphor o Undermine the physical contact of saw ripping bone by calling it a meeting ¾ Personification giving hand and saw ability to meet each other at a meeting § Metaphorical imagery – personification (saw to living things) * “the buzz snarled” ¾ Cutting noise of saw > wild animal ¾ Shows the seriousness of the saw and how dangerous it is   * “seemed to leap” ¾ Leaping like wild animal at its prey * This imagery gives the feeling of danger around the boy’s death · Imagery in this poem forms the story. It gives the reader a way to relate and mentally picture the actions of the poem.

· More Imagery: § Line 2 “dust and dropped stove length sticks of wood” § Line 5 “five mountain ranges one behind the other” § Line 29 “he lay and puffed his lips out with his breath” · Personification: § Line 1 “buzz saw snarled” (The cutting noise of the saw is compared to a wild animal, like a lion or bear. To compare a thing to a living being is known as personification) § Line 3 “breeze drew across it” § Line 7 “saw snarled and rattled” § Line 15 “saws knew what supper meant” § Line 16 “leaped out at the boys hand” · Tone: § Tone of title is angry and horrific. § The tone at the start is maddened, sinister and threatening: ‘The buzz-saw snarled and rattled in the yard’. § The tone becomes pleasant and sensual: ‘Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.’ § · Irony : § Worked extra, could have avoided death § Such a gruesome death * Not important to the rest of the people · Comes from Macbeth § Just told of his wife’s death (committed suicide) § His actions cause her death ** Themes: ** · Nothingness § Refer to his life being nothing § Boy died “no more…” (line 33) Insensitive: ‘And they, since they (Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs)