Question

The Gift Outright is a poem which compresses within it the history of America as a nation .Discuss and answer the question in about 300 words​

Answer 1

Explanation:

Robert Frost was a great lover of his country, especially the part of the country known as New England. He wrote a number of poems dealing with American life and culture, and with the beliefs, manners, and customs of the American people. The American ideals of democracy, liberty, and fraternity find a poignant expression in several of his poems. His poem, ‘The Gift Outright, reveals his patriotic fervor and presents the history of his country since the days of colonialism. It was recited at a gathering of the Phi, Beta Kappa Society at the William and Mary College, on the 5th of December, 1941, and was published in Frost’s volume A Witness Tree in 1942. It was later recited before a distinguished audience on the occasion of the Inauguration ceremony of President Kennedy on January 20, 1962. It helped Frost established his reputation as a truly national poet.

Frost has summarized in ‘The Gift Outright, a short poem of 16 lines, the history of colonization in America, and the growth of love and devotion that the settlers came to shower on this land. It is one of the best patriotic poems ever written about America and the American people. Frost himself held it in high esteem, and once remarked about it: “It’s the whole story. It’s all my politics… my national history.” The poem has a political tinge, but it is chiefly a piece of poetry and not that of propaganda. What makes it appealing to us is not its political or historical content, but its presentation of the poet’s patriotic zeal with an artistic finish and depth of feeling. The poem may be said to project the national feelings of the American people in an emotionally touching manner

Themes

The poem, ‘The Gift Outright’, is a patriotic poem, and it deals with the national sentiments and pride of Americans. It presents briefly the history of colonization in America by English and European settlers. It tells how these settlers made this land their own by dint of their love of, and devotion to it. The sense of people’s oneness with the country of their adoption finds a fine expression in the poem. This history of America and its people may be said to form, in the form of a capsule summary, the theme of the poem. The settlers at first felt and behaved as aliens or outsiders, and so they could not truly possess or own the country.

They became its real possessors after making a total surrender to it. The national sentiments of Americans, and their sense of their European ancestry, are both treated nicely in this poem. ‘The Gift Outright’ can be better described as a poetic definition of an American state of mind, a compact psychological essay on colonization. The theme of the poem comprises the historical and political background of America, and the national pride its people feel in their adopted land.

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