Out, Out. by Robert Frost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Out, Out. by Robert Frost - Essay Example The title of the poem, â€Å"Out, Out,† is derived from a line in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth: â€Å"Out, out, brief candle!† (Shakespeare, 1993, 5.5.23), spoken by Macbeth upon hearing the news of his wife’s death. Frost’s use of the phrase as his title seems to be ironic. In the play, Macbeth laments his wife’s passing and reflects that life is ultimately meaningless: â€Å"it is a tale/Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/Signifying nothing† (Shakespeare, 1993, 5.5.26-28). But Frost does not agree that life has no meaning. He uses the poem as a way to record the boy’s existence, to show that even though his candle has been snuffed way too soon, his life was still significant. The poem begins just before the tragedy occurs, and sets the tone from the first line. Frost uses personification to describe the chainsaw as it â€Å"snarled and rattled in the yard† (1). This line foreshadows the upcoming accident, b ut it is important to note that Frost does not depict the tragedy as an accident—he instead frames it as a deliberate act of malice on the part of the saw.