The Gift Outright - Robert Frost

Robert Frost was a frequent visitor [to Key West], and served as U.S. poet laureate in 1958-59. Frost first visited Key West in 1934 and wrote one of his best-known poems, "The Gift Outright," on the island. He subsequently paid winter visits to Key West from 1945 to 1960, staying in a small cottage behind the home of local hostess and preservationist Jessie Porter. Once a historic house museum, today Porter's home and the cottage, which has been named a National Literary Landmark, are privately owned and no longer open to the public.

Click to see Carey House. Look at the list of the people who've gathered there.

Read “The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost on Genius

This poem is technically a sonnet, though unusual in this form because of its sixteen lines. It is written in iambic pentameter and free verse.

This poem was written as early as 1936, but Frost did not publish it until 1941, a few months after the United States entered World War II. Although it had already achieved a level of familiarity and fame among the American public, “The Gift Outright” received special attention when Frost recited it at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. Frost had originally planned to recite a poem entitled “Dedication” that he had written for the event. However, because of the glare of the sun and his poor eyesight (he was eighty-seven years old at the time), he was unable to read his copy of the poem and instead recited “The Gift Outright.”