OUT OUT - by Robert Frost
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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 the 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 he 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 –
Theme:
Describing how a __________ died doing a man’s work and the poet __________
against the __________ of child labour.
Type:
Lyric
STRUCTURE:
1. The poem which consists of 34 lines is divided into __________ stanzas
BACKGROUND
1. The title is taken from the __________ play ‘Macbeth’ in which the king on
__________ of his wife’s death thinks deeply on the __________ of man’s life which
he compares to a short length of __________ that is soon burnt out.
“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.”
2. The setting of the poem is a __________ in which a buzz saw (a circular saw so
called for the sound it makes) was used to saw logs in to __________.
Line 1
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
The setting is __________. The story takes place at a __________
where a circular saw is used to cut wood.
Snarled: this word shows that the saw is as __________ as an animal
__________ its teeth.
Rattled: this words shows that the __________ is old. It does not run
smoothly __________.
Line 2
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
The saw __________ a lot of dust. This dust __________ a contrast
with the beautiful view they have of the __________ ranges. The
workplace is __________ and dusty.
Alliterations: dust and __________.
Line 3
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
The wood had a __________ smell.
Irony: the sweet smell of the wood __________ a sharp contrast with
the dusty and dirty saw yard. You do not __________ anything sweet in
this environment.
Alliteration: sweet-scented __________
Line 4-5
And from there those that __________ eyes could count
Five mountain __________ one behind the other
Under the __________ far into Vermont
From the yard you see __________ ranges. This is a beautiful place. It
is at the end of the day, the sun is setting. You __________ people
working while the __________ is setting.
Antithesis The __________ view forms a sharp contrast with the noise
of the saw and the dust surrounding the workers.
Line 7-9
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled an rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Repetition: The __________ of snarled and rattled shows you that the
saw is busy the whole time. It also __________ that something
dangerous is going to happen.
Ran light: when there is no __________ in the saw
Bear a load: when the __________ is cutting a piece of wood
Nothing happened: this was __________ and monotonous work. They did
the same thing for the whole day.
Day was all but done: maybe __________ will still happen before the
day is over, although it is __________ sunset.
Line 10-12
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.
Call it a day: The poet __________ his description with his own
subjective opinion.
He wishes they let the boy stop with __________ a half hour before
stopping time so that the boy can play a little bit.
The boy has no time to play and __________ is precious to every
boy/child.
He emphasizes __________ the boy is only a child which will heighten
the tragedy of this poem.
Line 13-14
His sister stood beside him in her apron
The tell them ‘Supper’….
The sister is also working. She __________ do all the housework, she
must make dinner etc. The word __________ tells you she is working in
the house. Supper is __________ in quotation marks because it is the
actual word the sister said.
She arrives to call the __________ that supper is ready.
Line 15-18
…At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what summer meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand….
Personification: the saw __________ something that understands
words. When the word ‘supper’ was said, it came loose and jumped at
the boys hand.
It seemed as if the boy gave his __________ to the saw.
The word leap links with the word snarl earlier. The saw is like an
animal that __________ at the boy’s hand.
Line 17-18
….However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
However it was: It does not __________ how the hand landed in the
saw, the outcome was tragic.
The saw and the hand did not __________ meeting. The saw cut easily
through the hand
But the hand! This __________ the tragedy
The hand was lost.
Line 19
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh
Rueful: a kind of __________ that show regret
Laugh: he does not laugh because losing his hand is funny, it is
unbelievable to him that he has lost his __________, that his hand is
cut off.
Line 20-22
As he swung toward them holding up the hand,
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling…
Appeal: the boy wanted their help.
Life from spilling: He __________ to prevent the blood flowing from
the wound. Blood represents life.
Metaphor: Life __________ to blood.
Line 22-24
…Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heartAll: his whole life, __________ and future
Old enough: the boy understood the reality of his life
Big boy doing a man’s work: if he __________ do a man’s work he could
know about his future.
Child at heart: still a child. Shows __________ unfair this is. This
emphasises how young the boy is.
Line 25
He saw all spoiled…
He had no hand.
He would not be able to __________ wood again.
His life was over.
He would not get any other __________ with only one hand, he had no
future.
He won’t be able to do __________ labour anymore.
Line 25-26
… ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!’
The boy knows how __________ his hand is to him.
He asks the __________ who is closest to him to help him.
When he comes: it is if he is __________ when the doctor will arrive.
Line 27
So. But the hand was gone already
So: This word __________ it all up. What to do now? Would the hand
be saved. Is it as simple as the boy asks __________ his sister?
Gone already: it is too late.
But the hand: __________ what is lost.
Line 28
The doctor put him in the dark of ether
Ether: an anaesthetic
Dark of ether: he received anaesthesia that __________ him out. This
was __________ and uncontrolled. In the dark he felt no pain.
Dark: oblivion, __________ of surroundings
Line 30
And then – the watcher at his pulse took fright
And then: to indicate that __________ worse is still to come, as if what
happened already is not terrible enough.
Watcher: the doctor, one of the __________
Took fright: __________ concerned
Line 31-33
No one believed. They listened at his heart
Little – less – nothing! – and that ended it.
No more to build on there.
No one believed: they did not __________ he was dying.
Little – less – nothing: regression
Little less: alliteration of l
That ended it: his life is over. His __________ stopped.
No more to build on there: he is __________. He has no future
Line 33-34
---And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs
They: co-workers and family. __________ of they empasises that they
were not caring and touched by the boy’s death.
Were not the one dead: they went on __________ their lives. They
carried on with business.
Shows you the __________ of the boy’s death. He worked his whole
young life and now nobody cares that he is dead.