The Gift Outright

"The Gift Outright" is a poem written by Robert Frost. Frost first recited it at the College of William & Mary on December 5, 1941, but its most famous recitation occurred on January 20, 1961 at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.[1]

Publication and inaugural recitation

The poem was first published in the Virginia Quarterly Review in Spring 1942. It was collected in Frost's volume A Witness Tree in 1943. According to Jeffrey S. Cramer the poem may have been written as early as 1936.[1][2]

At the presidential inauguration Frost recited "The Gift Outright" from memory instead of reading his new poem "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration" which he was unable to read in the wind and sunlight.[3]

See also
  • Poems at United States presidential inaugurations

References
  1. Tuten, Nancy Lewis; Zubizarreta, John (2001). The Robert Frost Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313294648
  2. Cramer, Jeffrey S. (1996). Robert Frost among His Poems: A Literary Companion to the Poet's Own Biographical Contexts and Associations. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
  3. "Poetry and Power: Robert Frost's Inaugural Reading". Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
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