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In the Clearing

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-In the Clearing- by Robert Frost

In the Clearing is a 1962 poetry collection by Robert Frost Published on his 88th birthday, March 26, 1962,[1] ten months before his death, it is the last volume published in his lifetime. It contains "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration", the poem, formerly named "Dedication", he had composed for Kennedy's inauguration but could not read;[2][3] and "Kitty Hawk", the book's longest poem, musing on the Wright Brothers' accomplishment.

Preparation

After the Kennedy inauguration, Frost had "high hopes" of finishing the collection of poems he had been promising Holt for the past several year. As of 1954, the title was "The Great Misgiving". It had been Frost's misgivings about the quality of his later poem that had prevented him from putting into print much earlier.[4]

Publication

Evaluation

Contents

  • "But God's Own Descent"[a]
  • "Pod of the Milkweed"
  • "Away!"
  • "A Cabin in the Clearing"[b][1]
  • "Closed for Good"
  • "America Is Hard to See"
  • "One More Brevity"
  • "Escapist - Never"
  • "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration"[c][3][2][5]


  • CLUSTER OF FAITH
  • "Accidentally on Purpose"
  • "A Never Naught Song"
  • "Version"
  • "A Concept Self-Conceived"
  • "Forgive, O Lord"[d]


  • "Kitty Hawk"
  • "Auspex"
  • "The Draft Horse"
  • "Ends"
  • "Peril of Hope"
  • "Questioning Faces"
  • "Does No One at All
Ever Feel This Way in the Least?"
  • "The Bad Island - Easter"
  • "Our Doom to Bloom"
  • "The Objection to Being Stepped On"
  • "A-Wishing Well"
  • "How Hard It Is to Keep from Being King
When It's in You and in the Situation"
  • "Lines Written in Dejection
on the Eve of Great Success"
  • "The Milky Way Is a Cowpath"
  • "Some Science Fiction"


  • QUANDARY
  • "Quandary"
  • "A Reflex"
  • "In a Glass of Cider"
  • "From Iron"
  • "Four-Room Shack Aspiring High"
  • "But Outer Space"
  • "On Being Chosen Poet of Vermont"
  • "We Vainly Wrestle with the Blind Belief"
  • "It Takes All Sorts of In and Outdoor Schooling"[d]
  • "In Winter in the Woods Alone"[d]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Frontispiece poem, excerpted from "Kitty Hawk".
  2. ^ From which poem title the book title is taken.
  3. ^ Expansion of the poem Frost meant to deliver at the JFK inaugural, along with "The Gift Outright".
  4. ^ a b c Poem is not properly titled. Its title is take from the poem's first line.

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Booth 1962.
  2. ^ a b Popova 2013.
  3. ^ a b New York Times 1961.
  4. ^ Thompson 1976, p. 294.
  5. ^ JFK Library.

Works cited

  • Booth, Philip (March 25, 1962). "Journey Out of a Dark Forest". Books. New York Times. New York (published 1998). Retrieved April 29, 2014. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • "John F. Kennedy Fast Facts: Robert Frost's "For John F. Kennedy's Inauguration"". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Boston. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  • "Robert Frost Adds Poet's Touch". Books. New York Times. New York (published 1998). January 21, 1961. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  • Popova, Maria (January 22, 2013). "On Art and Government: The Poem Robert Frost Didn't Read at JFK's Inauguration". BrainPickings.org. Retrieved April 30, 2014. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Thompson, Lawrance; Winnick, R. H. (1976). Robert Frost: The Later Years, 1938–1963 [Vol. 3]. New York [etc.]: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-017806-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)


Further reading

Category:1962 books Category:American poetry collections Category:Poetry by Robert Frost Category:Massachusetts culture Category:Works by Robert Frost