The revered American poet, Robert Frost was highly regarded for his realistic rural

depictions taken from his image of New England in the 20th century. He was known for his

modernistic view of the world where he constantly questioned it philosophically by reflecting

on his troubled romantic view of society. This can be shown through Frost’s popular poem, Out

Out. Out Out is a third-person narrative poem composed in blank verse that constitutes

inconsistent iambic stresses and other metrical variations such as pyrrhic trochaic spondaic

which reflect changes in meaning and emotion in the poem. It was written as a part of Frost’s

third collection of poetry; Mountain Interval. Out Out focused on questioning a wide range of

world issues as it revolves around the story of a young boy cutting wood with a buzz saw and is

then called in for supper by his sister. However, as he turns to come inside, his hand makes

direct contact with the saw and ultimately proves to be fatal. Frost portrays the inhumanity and

emotional detachment of people in the industrial era as everyone in the poem did not seem to

care for the boy as much after his death and returned to their daily activities as usual. The

following oral will be a linear analysis about Out Out and will cover the following literary

devices: natural imagery, juxtaposition, onomatopoeia, refrain, anthropomorphism, irony,

enjambment, characterization, caesura, and puns.

Firstly, the title of this poem, “Out Out” was named after a phrase in Act 5 Scene 5 from

one of Shakespeare’s famous plays, Macbeth. This scene is also known as Macbeth’s Soliloquy

scene. Here, Frost suggests that life is like a brief candle as it can easily be taken away from an

individual and portrays the harsh realities and struggles of life in the New England environment

during this time.

 From Lines 1-7 in the poem, the reader is directly provided with an image, cacophonic

sounds, and the scent of the environment. It can be seen that there is a contrast between the

placid Vermont environment and the noisy machinery which shows the conflict between man

versus nature. Frost effectively used onomatopoeia to exhibit the sound of the machinery by

using words such as, “snarled and rattled” repetitively. It creates a rather ominous and

menacing tone and reflects the sound of a snake hence giving the machinery

anthropomorphistic features and makes the idea of the snake less humane therefore, showing

the conniving aspect of society during this era. Frost also uses irony in Line 4 to show that the

people are so oblivious to the beauty of nature that is surrounding them as they are occupied

with working with their machines.

Lines 8-12 foreshadow that a significant event is about to happen by using the phrase

“And nothing happened: day was all but done.” This builds tension within the reader by the fast

pace created through the use of enjambment which can be seen from Lines 9-12. Line 11 is

where the main character, the boy, was first introduced in the poem giving it the characteristics

of narrative style poem. Frost strategically uses the word “boy” instead of giving him a name to

relate to the general audience more. He provides an image of the boy being isolated which

automatically portrays his internal and external conflicts.

Lines 13-15 seems to be the rising action of the point where the boy’s sister called him

in for supper which results in a radical change in him and he immediately turns from being

oblivious to aware of his surroundings. The reader can again see anthropomorphistic features

again in line 14 as Frost writes the word “them” meaning the boy’s sister was talking to him and
his saw. In line 15, Frost writes. “As if to prove saws knew what supper meant.” This is used to

mock the boy’s oblivious nature.

Lines 16-17 is the turning point of the poem where the boy’s hand was dragged into the

saw. The speakers voice in these lines should be noted as it was written as if the narrator was

there to witness the saw as it “leaped” and cut into the boy’s flesh. This gives the saw

animalistic features through the use of personification. It should also be noted that there is a

sharp use of caesura mid-way of Line 16 which represents work stopping when the saw struck.

Lines 19-22 explains the boy’s first reaction to his hand being cut off and him backing

away from the saw and trying to find a solution but there was none to be found. In line 22,

Frost writes, “Life from spilling.” This is an ambiguous phrase as it is meant metaphorically and

literally. Metaphorically, “Life from spilling” could mean he tried to keep his life from

deteriorating. Whereas, in a literal sense “Life from spilling” could provide the reader with an

image of blood spilling out of his hands It should also be noted that the sister did not report the

incident immediately.

In Lines 23-27, Frost writes in a sympathetic tone which can be seen be through the

narrator’s description of how the boy was old enough to do man like activities but still a child at

heart so, he should not have been using the saw in the first place. The reader can also see a pun

in line 23 and 27 as the word “saw” was used.

In Lines 27-30, an imperative tone is used in Line 28 which shows the reader that the

boy feels as if he is going to be a burden to his family with his hand being cut off which makes

the reader have sympathy toward the boy as it is evident he does not what to cause harm to

anyone else’s life. The narrator also takes a deep pause by using the word “So.” Which summed
up the of the poem where the boy ends up dying and going to heaven no matter how much he

pleaded the doctor to keep him alive. These lines also only have 9 lines making it a line of only 4

feet.

Lines 31- 34 describes the last moments of the boy. Here, the narrator explains the

boy’s heartbeat and how it has gone from little to nothing which ended his life

Finally, in the last two lines of the poem, the narrator explains how there is no more

value in the dead boy which results in society forgetting about him and moving on with their

daily activities which shows the how the world is becoming inhumane as it develops.

Therefore, Robert Frost successfully leaves his reader thinking about how the world is

becoming oblivious to the beauty of nature through the use of natural imagery, juxtaposition,

onomatopoeia, anthropomorphism, refrain irony, enjambment, characterization, caesura, and

puns. Frost’s poem is also still relevant in today’s world as technology has brought people

further apart physically as now most activities that used to be done in person are now done

through machinery. Hence, this poem shows that people will always be dependent on one thing

which in return causes there to be barriers between people