Part III, Chapter 18: "'Out, Out—'" by Robert Frost

This heartbreaking poem tells the story of a young boy who suffers a terrible accident while working. The poem's title references a line from William Shakespeare's Macbeth: "Out, out, brief candle!" Read the poem here.

Here are links to our lists for other poems by Robert Frost: "The Death of the Hired Man", "After Apple-Picking", "Mending Wall", "Birches"
13 words 100 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. buzz saw
    a power saw that has a steel disk with cutting teeth on the periphery; rotates on a spindle
    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.
  2. snarl
    make an angry, sharp, or abrupt noise
    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.
  3. rattle
    make a series of short, loud sounds
    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.
  4. range
    a series of hills or mountains
    And from there those that lifted eyes could count
    Five mountain ranges one behind the other
    Under the sunset far into Vermont.
  5. prove
    provide evidence for
    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.
  6. refuse
    be unwilling to accept
    However it was,
    Neither refused the meeting.
  7. outcry
    a loud utterance, often in protest or opposition
    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.
  8. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
    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.
  9. appeal
    earnest or urgent request
    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.
  10. spoil
    make a mess of, destroy or ruin
    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.
  11. ether
    a highly inflammable liquid formerly used as an anesthetic
    The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
  12. pulse
    the rate at which the heart beats
    And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
  13. affair
    a matter or concern
    And they, since they
    Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
Created on Fri Nov 17 13:28:06 EST 2017 (updated Tue Nov 28 13:46:56 EST 2017)

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