WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
The Gift Outright
byVanderleunonOctober 22, 2022
The Gift Outright
by Robert Frost
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.
— Delivered at the Kennedy Inauguration
Four Presidents at the Inauguration of JFK: (left to right) Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon
On the morning of the inauguration, January 20, 1961, Frost presented the poem to incoming Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall in his hotel room. Pleasantly surprised, Udall had a new copy typed up before whisking Frost off to the ceremony with the poet intending to read “Dedication” as a preamble to “The Gift Outright.”
The inauguration unfolded on a sunny but bitterly cold day at the U.S. Capitol. Approximately one hour in, Frost made his way to the podium and began reading “Dedication,” but soon stopped: the sun’s glare, reflecting off the snowy ground, was far too bright for a pair of 86-year-old eyes.
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to block the sun with his hat, but Frost abandoned the effort altogether and began reciting “The Gift Outright” from memory.
Heeding Kennedy’s request, he closed the short poem with his own added emphasis: “Such as she was, such as she would become, has become, and I – and for this occasion let me change that to – what she will become.”
I hate to open with an OT, but it sounds like the sagacious Happy Acres guy is having some serious trouble. A prayer or two wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
JWM
bob sykesOctober 22, 2022, 2:57 PM
I was 18 then. Frost was the poet laureate of New England. I grew up in rural Massachusetts, Methuen, then full of Canucks, like my mom, the other great stream.
1961 was probably the absolute peak of America. The long slide, ever accelerating, began with Kennedy’s murder by the State.
It is to weep. The memories and lost hopes still burn six decades later.
OneGuyOctober 23, 2022, 2:12 PM
I was 18 then too, living in Lynn, then full of, Irish, Italian, Greeks, Jews, Poles, a handful of Eastern European countries, Some English and Scottish too and a few blacks.
I think that the long slide began with Kennedy’s Vietnam war and just about everything that Johnson did after he took office.
In a former life I did time trying to teach English in an inner city school in LA. East side (thank God) and not west. “Caged Bird” (awful) was on the reading list. Somehow, every semester, we ended up spending too much time on the other books, and never quite got to it until midway through the last week. I was terrible at scheduling.
JWM
VanderleunOctober 23, 2022, 7:40 AM
Not just a Plus. It is everything. Makes him a poet and she but a tosser of the pink cabbage.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
The Gift Outright
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson tried to block the sun with his hat, but Frost abandoned the effort altogether and began reciting “The Gift Outright” from memory.
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
I hate to open with an OT, but it sounds like the sagacious Happy Acres guy is having some serious trouble. A prayer or two wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.
JWM
I was 18 then. Frost was the poet laureate of New England. I grew up in rural Massachusetts, Methuen, then full of Canucks, like my mom, the other great stream.
1961 was probably the absolute peak of America. The long slide, ever accelerating, began with Kennedy’s murder by the State.
It is to weep. The memories and lost hopes still burn six decades later.
I was 18 then too, living in Lynn, then full of, Irish, Italian, Greeks, Jews, Poles, a handful of Eastern European countries, Some English and Scottish too and a few blacks.
I think that the long slide began with Kennedy’s Vietnam war and just about everything that Johnson did after he took office.
He’s no Maya Angelou.
Which is a plus.
In a former life I did time trying to teach English in an inner city school in LA. East side (thank God) and not west. “Caged Bird” (awful) was on the reading list. Somehow, every semester, we ended up spending too much time on the other books, and never quite got to it until midway through the last week. I was terrible at scheduling.
JWM
Not just a Plus. It is everything. Makes him a poet and she but a tosser of the pink cabbage.
I had forgotten about Angelou until I read your comment. Now I hope to forget her all over again.
Because we live here that’s why.