In the Clearing

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1962 first edition.

In the Clearing is a 1962 poetry collection by Robert Frost. It contains the poem "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration", much of which Frost had composed to be read at President Kennedy's inauguration but could not. The book is also known for "Kitty Hawk", the book's longest poem, which muses on the Wright Brothers' accomplishment in manned flight.

Preparation[edit]

Invited to recite "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, Frost composed a new, prefatory poem[1] that became "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration". At the actual event Frost wasn't able to read the latter poem, but still recited the former from memory.[2][3]

After the Kennedy inauguration, Frost had "high hopes" of finishing the collection of poems he had been promising Holt for the past several years. As of 1954, the title was "The Great Misgiving". It had been Frost's misgivings about the quality of his later poetry that had prevented him from putting it into print much earlier.[4]

Publication[edit]

Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in New York[5] on his 88th birthday, March 26, 1962,[6] ten months before his death, it was the last volume of his poetry published in his lifetime.[7]

Contents[edit]

  • "But God's Own Descent"[a]
  • "Pod of the Milkweed"
  • "Away!"
  • "A Cabin in the Clearing"[b][6]
  • "Closed for Good"
  • "America Is Hard to See"
  • "One More Brevity"
  • "Escapist - Never"
  • "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration"[c][2][3][1]


  • CLUSTER OF FAITH*[d]
  • "Accidentally on Purpose"
  • "A Never Naught Song"
  • "Version"
  • "A Concept Self-Conceived"
  • "Forgive, O Lord"[e]


  • "Kitty Hawk"
  • "Auspex"
  • "The Draft Horse"
  • "Ends"
  • "Peril of Hope"
  • "Questioning Faces"
  • "Does No One at All
Ever Feel This Way in the Least?"
  • "The Bad Island - Easter"
  • "Our Doom to Bloom"
  • "The Objection to Being Stepped On"
  • "A-Wishing Well"
  • "How Hard It Is to Keep from Being King
When It's in You and in the Situation"
  • "Lines Written in Dejection
on the Eve of Great Success"
  • "The Milky Way Is a Cowpath"
  • "Some Science Fiction"


  • "Quandary"
  • "A Reflex"
  • "In a Glass of Cider"
  • "From Iron"
  • "Four-Room Shack Aspiring High"
  • "But Outer Space"
  • "On Being Chosen Poet of Vermont"
  • "We Vainly Wrestle with the Blind Belief"
  • "It Takes All Sorts of In and Outdoor Schooling"[e]
  • "In Winter in the Woods Alone"[e]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Frontispiece poem, excerpted from "Kitty Hawk".
  2. ^ From which poem title the book title is taken.
  3. ^ Expansion of the poem Frost meant to deliver at the JFK inaugural, instead of "The Gift Outright".
  4. ^ a b Boldface, all-capitals headings denote sections of several poems to be considered together and whose titles are similarly indented in book's table of contents as they are here.
  5. ^ a b c Poem is not properly titled. Its title is taken from the poem's first line.

References[edit]

Citations

  1. ^ a b JFK Library.
  2. ^ a b New York Times 1961.
  3. ^ a b Popova 2013.
  4. ^ Thompson & Winnick 1976, p. 294.
  5. ^ Frost 1962.
  6. ^ a b Booth 1962.
  7. ^ New York Times 1963.

Works cited

  • Booth, Philip (March 25, 1962). "Journey Out of a Dark Forest". Books. New York Times. New York (published 1998). Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  • Frost, Robert (1962). In the Clearing (First ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 9780030310102. LCCN 62-011578.
  • "John F. Kennedy Fast Facts: Robert Frost's "For John F. Kennedy's Inauguration"". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Boston. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  • "Robert Frost Adds Poet's Touch". Books. New York Times. New York (published 1998). January 21, 1961. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  • "Robert Frost Dies at 88; Kennedy Leads in Tribute". New York Times. The Associated Press. January 30, 1963. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  • Popova, Maria (January 22, 2013). "On Art and Government: The Poem Robert Frost Didn't Read at JFK's Inauguration". BrainPickings.org. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  • Thompson, Lawrance; Winnick, R. H. (1976). Robert Frost: The Later Years, 1938–1963 [Vol. 3]. New York [etc.]: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN 0-03-017806-1.

Further reading[edit]

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