‘OUT

OUT’- ROBERT FROST

1.TITLE- refers to Macbeth’s speech in Shakespeare’s play- ‘Macbeth’ wherein he
comments on the frailty of life and the despair in life with focus on lady
Macbeth’s death.
“Out, out, brief candle!
life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage
and then is heard no more.”
In the poem- the focus too is on the helplessness of the poor, young boy, who
becomes an innocent victim of a deplorable accident. There is the added effect of
the contrast as while Lady Macbeth was not innocent- the boy in the poem was! -
his only fault being- distraction, which cost him his life.

2. SETTING- a young boy employed as child labour at a lumber- mill/ in
Vermont- he goes unnamed- which adds to the tragic element- as he is shown to
become an unknown, insignificant victim of a tragedy- yet such a tragedy in the
life of a common person as opposed to that of Macbeth or Lady Macbeth, is
suggested to be no less tragic.

3. STRUCTURE- blank verse- no division into stanzas/ absence of rhyme-
abundance of run-on-lines- enjambment- “however it was, neither refused the
meeting.” suggesting the overlapping of life situations, without clear boundaries
at times, just as a normal day in the life of the boy overlapped to be the last day
of his life- it also spells the unpredictability in life. The poem is written in iambic
pentameter, which helps to lay stress upon the tragic element in the poem.

4. CONSONANCE AND THE ONOMATOPOEIA- “buzz”, “snarled”, “rattled”- strike
a discordant/ unpleasant - jarring note right at the outset- capturing the harsh
sound of the heartless ‘saw’-jargon- “buzz saw”- the consonant ‘d’ creates a
heavy sound synonymous with death.
5. THE CONSONANT effect continues into the second line/ alliteration- “dust
and dropped”- along with the visual imagery- “stove- length sticks of wood”
capture the essence and the proceedings at the scene of action.

6. ALLITERATION- “sweet- scented stuff”-/olfactory image- creates a rather
pleasant setting in contrast with the opening line- against a calm and beautiful
image of the setting sun in Vermont.
The striking visual imagery- “five mountain ranges one behind the other under
the sunset far into Vermont.”- add the aesthetic sense- thus contributing to the
forthcoming contrast-
The tone is narrative, the mood gradually turns sombre, serious- ultimately
verging on the utter hopelessness of the situation.

7. THE CAESURA creates the essential pause, foreshadowing the fatal blow and
the fatal halt// soon followed suit by another example in the next line-“and
nothing happened: day was all but done.” The immediate contradiction has an
ironic impact as although nothing had happened until then- the moment was
just close when everything would fatally stop// the alliteration lays emphasis
on the day- which was quite done in terms of the day’s work- but this simple fact
withholds a deeper tragic irony- soon to be laid bare.

8. THE TONE is casual, thus in a way underplaying the forthcoming tragedy- it is
much like the calm before the storm// The tone undergoes a lot of variation from
the starting point where the serenity of the initial setting creates a rather
contemplative tone, and likewise a similar mood; this however, changes as the
situation becomes more tense until a sense of shock completely transforms the
prevailing tone and mood, and thus the resulting atmosphere is overshadowed
by a sense of sudden doom and death.

9. THE FIRST PERSON VOICE: is of the passer-by or a random onlooker the
spoken voice for the poet-“to please the boy by giving him the half hour/that a boy
counts so much when saved from work.” are marked by complete innocence,
harmlessness- thus in retrospect these moments in the poem prepare us for the
paradox in the moment which seemed all good but turned the wheels in the
opposite direction forever- in fact stopping the very fountain of life for the
under- aged labourer- who also stands as the symbol of the exploitation and
child labour.
10. REPETITON: The word the “boy” has been repeated several times-he goes
unnamed- suggesting the commonness and the insignificance of instances which
may be as greatly tragic as the loss of a king- it may not have the same dimension
in terms of the impact but on the other hand such instances mark the loss of an
innocent life- which makes it as tragic.
The boy would have remained a labourer all his life-what is of the essence is the
flimsy line between life and death- pointing out the irony of life and the
suddenness and finality of death.//this also crashes the idea of social hierarchy
by conveying the message that the loss of a human life is what is significant no
matter what the social stature.

11. VISUAL IMAGERY: the visual image of the sister- “his sister stood beside them
in her apron”- once again strikes a stroke of irony wherein the trivial is being
given importance in contrast with what was much bigger in importance-// the
caesura intensifies the impact.//
The religious overtones and the symbolic impact of “supper” brings to mind
‘the last supper’- and the idea of the final betrayal- here the betrayal at the cruel
hands of life-

12. STRUCTURE: the significance of the structure - it being blank verse
(narrative in tone)-is highlighted in the absence of the stanzas, the absence of
rhyme and the enjambment which suggests the overlap between life and death-
there being only a hairline margin between the two. The pentameter effect
creates the required impact by laying emphasis on the even numbered syllables-
“the buzz saw snarled”
13. PERSONIFICATION: The personification of the saw captures the drastic
nature of the incident in which the poet once again highlights the irony by
suggesting that perhaps the fault was of the boy- “he must have given the hand.”-
the use of the imperative creates the irony.
14. SYNTAX: The syntax plays a crucial role the apparent casualness- suggests
the tragic reality -“neither refused the meeting.”- underscores the finality of the
fatal stroke. The verb “meeting”-generally having positive connotations here
thrives on the contrast. as here it was the meeting point between the saw and
the hand- having a fatal outcome.

15. THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE- “a rueful laugh”- signifies how the boy not
realising what had happened gave an apologetic laugh- the punctuations “but
the hand!” and the hyphens suggest the cruelty of the moment- the tone
becomes more intensely dramatic as the irony heightens.// ironically life is
personified “life from spilling”-all pointing towards the hopelessness of the
situation and the irreversibility of the situation.//the caesura is extremely
impactful to the same effect.

16. THE REPETITION of “boy”- “boy saw all— since he was old enough to
know, big boy doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—“-shows the
poet’s attempt to create irony as some may justify the accident as a chance
happening, thus putting the blame on no one//the poet subtly exposes all if any
attempts, at justifying child labour.// the pun on the word “saw” which has been
used repeatedly is significant. “he saw all spoiled.”- also the alliteration
contributes to the same effect- in heightening the irony.

17. DIRECT SPEECH: The second inclusion of the direct speech- further
intensifies the tone making it more cruelly ironic- giving the boy a voice when
he is nearing the end of his life and he is unaware about it.- the resulting
atmosphere - the repetitive denial- ““don't let him cut my hand off-“// “don't let
him, sister!”- the glaring contrast between the tenderness in the boy’s address
and the cruel stroke of destiny is shocking- resulting in an atmosphere of
despair.

18. THE CONCLUSION: The culminating lines of the poem poignantly capture
the boy’s decline and fall unto death- with each passing moment marked by the
hyphens, short syntax- signifying the brief moments of breathing left for the
boy// the caesura- all converge towards the final moment.//dramatic run
down-“little—less—nothing!”

19. IRONY: A poem which is so heavily over laden with irony right from the
start- ends most dramatically with the master stroke of irony which points at the
cruel fact of life that nothing stops with the death of one person- life goes on and
the stream of life does not stop to flow with anyone’s end.// the repetitive use
of the pronouns “they” creates the ultimate contrast between the dead boy who
was outlived by all the others-//his victimisers/exploiters/sister- all were alive
except him- //the poem leaves a lingering impact of the tragic loss of an innocent
life and the intrinsic cruelty of life.
20. UNIVERSALITY/ MESSAGE: Although embedded in the specified setting of
the beautifully peaceful ‘Vermont’, the poem achieves a universality through the
message of tragic overtones in the commonest moments of life and the subtle
suggestion of the abolition of such social injustices as ‘child labour’.