Out, Out by Robert Frost and Death on a Live Wire by Michael Baldwin

Out, Out by Robert Frost and Death on a Live Wire by Michael Baldwin

Both of these poems that I have chosen to compare are about death,

although the circumstances surrounding the death in each poem

contrasts greatly. In the poem “Out, Out-“ a “big boy doing a mans

work” and getting his hand severed by a buzz saw in a dramatic

accident. The injuries sustained in this accident then lead to the

“boys” tragic death. “Death on a live Wire” similarly involves a

death, but unlike the accidental death of the boy in “Out, Out-“ the

deceased in this poem actually takes his own life by climbing onto an

electric pylon.

In these two poems the poet gets across ideas that he may have wanted

us to think about very well. In “Out, Out-“ and similarly in “Death on

a live wire,” both Frost and Baldwin put across very well just how

fickle life is, and how swiftly it can be taken away. Frost puts this

across in “Out, Out-“ by showing the dangers faced in every day

working life, and the fact that the victim of this accident is a young

boy goes on to emphasise his point of how fickle life actually is.

Baldwin though uses the effect that electricity on the body to show

how life can be taken away at an instant. He shows how powerful the

electricity is, by describing the way it acts on the mans body in

great detail. He says that the man “danced an incredible dance,” and

his legs “thrashed and lashed like electric eels.” This builds up a

picture in our mind of exactly how the electricity was affecting the

man. The use of a simile when Baldwin says that the mans legs

“thrashed and lashed like electric eels” is extremely affective, as

such a simple likening ...

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...omewhat confused, internal, and

alternate rhyme scheme. The writer seems to have chosen a seemingly

confused alternate rhyme scheme in order to correspond to the mans

state of mind, which also seems to be some what confused.

Overall, although both poems were very interesting to read, the one

that I preferred most was “Out, Out-.” I preferred this most as it had

a more upbeat feel to the mood, which was unlike the poem “Death on a

live Wire,” which seemed both sad and depressing. Another feature that

I also enjoyed very in from the poem “Out, Out-“ was the use of

onomatopoeia to give the poem a flowing, sharp rhythm. The best use of

this that is available in the poem is right at the beginning when the

writer describes the buzz saw as snarling and rattling, which builds

and image, as well as the sound of the buzz saw.