Robert Frost : 'Out, Out—' (poem and video)

怀抱花朵的孩子

'Out, Out—'

by Robert Frost

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 the 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—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man's work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

[ 本帖最后由 怀抱花朵的孩子 于 2006-6-4 10:49 编辑 ]

怀抱花朵的孩子

[rm]http://realserver.bu.edu:8080/ramgen/f/a/favoritepoem/video/wojtusik.rm[/rm]

From: http://www.favoritepoem.org/thevideos/wojtusik.html
Video download: http://realserver.bu.edu:8080/ra ... m/video/wojtusik.rm

[ 本帖最后由 怀抱花朵的孩子 于 2006-6-4 10:51 编辑 ]

mu

Nice poem and nice video!
I'm reciting this poem all day.I'm fond of all Frost's poems--even sometimes really hard,he's real American.
now I found it's an accusation?
'Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.'
Frost was amazed by the injustice.

怀抱花朵的孩子

I don't like Frost very much before, cause I felt he is lack of skill,his poem is too plain. But when I am reading Understanding Poetry, I found  the first poem the author give is this one, and when I watched this video, I felt the  voice of the reader is so beautifull and moving, and I felt I could understand this poem finally, maybe it's not as splendid as Gerard Manley Hopkins'  God's Grandeur. but it do give us something real and moving.

[ 本帖最后由 怀抱花朵的孩子 于 2006-6-6 11:34 编辑 ]

duessa

"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow" (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5)

I'm always a bit afraid to read Frost's poems. There lurks a destructive force under their seemingly tranquil surface.

怀抱花朵的孩子

原帖由 duessa 于 2006-6-6 20:41 发表
"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow" (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5)

I'm always a bit afraid to read Frost's poems. There lurks a destructive force under their seemingly tra ...

"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow" (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5)

Have you read Macbeth in english or get this sentence from This poem?
I've read only Hemlet in english. Cause my English so poor that I found it agony to finish it! But I do feel Shakespear is a verbal genius, the  dialogues between Hemlet and other characters are as beutifull as his sonnets!

I'm always a bit afraid to read Frost's poems. There lurks a destructive force under their seemingly tranquil surface.

I don't know much about Frost, but I am afraid to read anything seemingly plain.I prefer to have sth gorgeous like Keats Endymion to peruse. i am a coward!

duessa

Shakespeare is also difficult for me. I had a shallow dip into Macbeth about one or two years ago but can't remember much now. When I read this poem "Out, OUt", I found a note that explained the source of this title.

About Frost's poems, I remember they are commented as "deceptively simple".

I don't think you need to blame yourself or call yourself "a coward" if you don't like someone. All of us have preferences and you have already done very well!