The poem:
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 him 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.
What is this poem about?
The poem captures the brief, albeit unfortunate, death of a young farm boy, whose hand was accidentally cut off by the saw he was working with, resulting in an injury so severe that not even the doctor could save him. Despite his pleas against having the doctor amputate his hand, it gets cut off and it is implied that he dies from excessive pain. While the poem is set in an idyllic, tranquil environment, it builds up to a violent climax, only to end on a note of coldness and apathy that those around the boy – his sister, the doctor, the community at large – show towards his tragic death.
Who is the poet?
Robert Frost is arguably one of the most celebrated American poets of the 20th century, if not of all time. His poems often feature rural scenes and simple, laymen activity, but underneath his stylistic plainness lies a deep symbolism that invites reflection on larger concepts such as life, death, fate, and transcendence. The setting of his poetry is largely influenced by the natural beauty of New England, but is usually generic enough that geographic specificity ceases to become an issue of relevance. His earlier works are the most famous, some of which include ‘The Road Not Taken’ (1916), ‘Out, out’ (1916), and ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ (1922).
What does the poem mean? (A line-by-line explanation)
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of woods,
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 work.
His sister stood beside him 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.
The buzzing saw made aggressive noises in the garden
From which there fell dust and large pieces of wood
A sweet smell emanates when the wind blows towards it
From that point anyone who looked up would be able to count
That there were five mountain ranges in the distance
Looking towards Vermont under the sunset
Meanwhile, the saw kept making aggressive sounds,
No matter when it had little or more to cut on.
With nothing in particular happening, the day passed by
I wish they would have stopped working
If not just for the sake of letting the boy have half an hour to himself
Which means a lot to a boy when it’s time saved from working.
The boy’s sister stood next to him, wearing an apron
And announced that supper was ready. Suddenly, the saw,
As if to show that it understood what that word implies,
Jumped at the boy’s hand, or appeared to jump at it-
But the boy must have offered up his hand. Whichever was the case,
Both the saw and the boy made contact. But what happened to the hand!
The boy’s first cry was a laugh of sorrowful regret,
As he toppled violently toward those around him, clutching onto his hand
Partly in urgent opposition, but partly to
Prevent his blood from spilling all over. Suddenly, the boy understood clearly
As he was old enough by then, being a boy
Forced to do an adult man’s work, despite being childlike at heart
He knew all his chances were ruined. “Don’t let him cut my hand off –
When the doctor comes, I mean. Don’t let him do that, sister!’
It was too late, however, before he knew it his hand was already cut off
The doctor anaesthetized him
As he lay there, breathing heavily with swollen lips
All of a sudden, the person paying attention to his pulse was taken aback
No one could believe it when they listened to the boy’s heart
The pulse was little, less, ultimately – none. And that marked the end of the boy’s life.
There was nothing of use from the dead boy. And so, everyone, since they
Were still alive, resumed their normal tasks and carried on living.
What are the poetic devices used?
- Personification
- Repetition
- Irony
Personification
(Attributing human qualities to non-human objects)
EXAMPLES
Line 1:
“The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard”
Line 7-8:
“And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.”
Line 14-17:
…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…”
ANALYSIS
Throughout the poem, the only reference personified is a violent object – the buzz saw. It is both menacing and active, portrayed as a creature that continuously “snarled and rattled”, which are sounds reminiscent of unpleasant people and venomous snakes. This is foreboding of the gory encounter that will happen to the boy’s hand later, and indeed, the saw is later characterized as an aggressive, pouncing animal which “leaped out at the boy’s hand”, resulting in its injury. The implication is perhaps the lethal, albeit unseeming, potential of manual labour for a young soul, as the boredom of work may quite literally ‘saw’ away the will to live of a boy who should be filled with zest for life (“a child at heart”). [See suicidal point mentioned below in the section on ‘Irony’]
Repetition
(Using the same words/phrases a few times for emphasis)
EXAMPLES
Line 1:
“The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard”
Line 7-8:
“And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,”
Line 16-19:
“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.”
Line 22-23:
“He saw all spoiled. ‘Don’t let him cut my hand off-
The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him, sister!”
ANALYSIS
Building on the menacing characterisation of the buzz saw, the repetition of “snarled and rattled”, and the “hand” reinforces the atmospheric threat that encircles the boy. The repetition of the hand hits home just how central the body part is to the boy’s identity – a manual labourer. As such, to part with it would almost undermine his entire sense of self, which eventually does materialise in the form of his death. In a nutshell, without his hand, his existence ceases to possess value, which highlights the fundamental tragedy of this poem, that a young boy’s life should be measured solely by his vocational utility.
Irony
(The opposite of what you expect)
As evident from the repetition of the hand, this body part is seen to be integral to the boy’s existence, as it is the ‘tool’ with which he works and logs. However, this hand is also what ultimately’ ‘betrays’ his life, as the persona speculates that he “must have given the hand” to the saw himself, which carries a faint implication of suicidal motives on the boy’s part. In the same vein, the doctor – someone who is supposed to fend off the arrival of death – is characterised as a sinister figure who administers violence (“Don’t let him cut off my hand”) and ultimately, demise (“The doctor put him in the dark of ether.”)
Both examples of irony perhaps bring to the fore the greatest irony that underlies this poem, that a person who gives up so much of his life should be ‘rewarded’ so thanklessly with a death that is as brutal and cold as the one met by the boy.
How does the poem sound and feel?
There is practically no rhyme in this poem, which lends it a natural, narrative feel, as befitting the casual, anecdotal tone of the persona. The rhythm is also fairly regular, marked by significantly more run-on lines in the early part of the poem, only to disintegrate into short, choppy clauses as the poem progresses, perhaps to highlight the breathlessness of a person quickly inching towards final moments of his life.
Towards the end, almost all the lines are sectioned off by a medial caesura, which read oddly matter-of-fact and unemotional, especially given the tragedy that has just occured. The jarring incompatibility between content and form reinforces the point that an individual’s death poses no impact on the greater social order, as the ones “not… dead” will still “turn to their affairs” and move forth with the natural course of life, despite the minor hiccups of unfortunate events such as the boy’s death.
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