The Gift Outright, by Robert Frost is a poem that expresses the connection of humans with their land.

by bobnewton (student)

AS and A Level English

Do, Wendy

English 1A, Per. 1

20 May 2011

Extra Credit: The Gift Outright

The Gift Outright

The land was ours before we were the land's.

She was our land more than a hundred years

Before we were her people. She was ours

In Massachusetts, in Virginia,

But we were England's, still colonials,

Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,

Possessed by what we now no more possessed.

Something we were withholding made us weak

Until we found out that it was ourselves

We were withholding from our land of living,

And forthwith found salvation in surrender.

Such as we were we gave ourselves outright

(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)

To the land vaguely realizing westward,

But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,

Such as she was, such as she would become

The Gift Outright, by Robert Frost is a poem that expresses the connection of humans with their land. The poem itself has a strange meaning, but if you dig deeper into the meaning you will understand it better. America is a strange place to begin with, and everyone believes they understand it, but do they really? The poem, likewise, is just a simple portrayal of the relationship between existence and possession with us and America. The narrator describes America’s history as a nation in this poem. During this time, America is still tied to England and cannot establish freedom, but by accepting the “gift” of identity. In the end, the Americans learn that the land is truly theirs.

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The poem is somewhat like a sonnet, but has sixteen lines instead of the regular fourteen. It is written in an iambic pentameter and has a rhyme scheme of free verse. The poem was written in 1936 but was not published until a few weeks after the begging of WW2. It was later recited at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Originally, the poem that was supposed to be read was “Dedication,” but Frost wasn’t able to read the copy of it due to the sunlight and his old age, so instead he recited The Gift Outright.

The first line “The ...

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The first line “The land was ours before we were the land’s” describes the land belonging to us but the claims that people make, make us belong to the land. The next two lines imply the same thing. Throughout the whole poem, examples of how the land belongs to us are shown, but were taken over perhaps because of war. – “The deed of our gift was many deeds of way.”

There are two distinct sets of colonies and traditions in this poem: Massachusetts and Virginia. The poem mentions England as well, making us ask questions: Do we want England to love us? The line: “possessed by what we now no more possessed” implies that England has nothing like true love to us. Possession seems to be the possibility of love by mid-noun. Possession is about strength and when we feel weak, we are experiencing the basest reaction.

The final five lines brings a relationship to the title, “The Gift Outright.” It shows all the doubts that the modern Left has about American are still there. It also shows we do not know how we are progressing and do not know where we are going. Can we ever progress or are we marked by cruelty forever?

The unsaid words are very vital. The New World has a name and it belongs to everyone. The lack of names in the poem shows sacrifice. We have to surrender to the land in order for it to take us where it will go. There is a body, soul relationship throughout the poem and a comment on whether spirits is in “unstoried” or “unenhanced.”

“The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost is a very emotional piece. It allows us to see the connection between us and our land. I believe anyone who has love for their land, “America”, should read it to further understand the connection better. The poem can also be read as defensive as well, as Frost repeats “ours”, “we”, and “owners” a lot. As a result, the type of American identity that Frost expresses is very different from the contemporary understanding of the American identity as an imagination of different cultures and ethnicities.