In the Clearing

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 which he did not read. The book is also known for "Kitty Hawk", the book's longest poem, which muses on the Wright Brothers' accomplishment in manned flight.

Preparation

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 into print much earlier.^[4]

Publication

Published on his 88th birthday, March 26, 1962,^[5] ten months before his death, it was the last volume of his poetry published in his lifetime.^[6]

Contents

• "But God's Own Descent"^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• "Pod of the Milkweed"
• "Away!"
• "A Cabin in the Clearing"^{[lower-alpha 2][5]}
• "Closed for Good"
• "America Is Hard to See"
• "One More Brevity"
• "Escapist - Never"
• "For John F. Kennedy His Inauguration"^{[lower-alpha 3][2][3][1]}

• CLUSTER OF FAITH

• "Accidentally on Purpose"
• "A Never Naught Song"
• "Version"
• "A Concept Self-Conceived"
• "Forgive, O Lord"^{[lower-alpha 4]}

• "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

• "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"^{[lower-alpha 4]}
• "In Winter in the Woods Alone"^{[lower-alpha 4]}

Footnotes

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, along with "The Gift Outright".
4. Poem is not properly titled. Its title is take from the poem's first line.

References

Citations

1. JFK Library.
2. New York Times 1961.
3. Popova 2013.
4. Thompson 1976, p. 294.
5. Booth 1962.
6. 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.
• "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. 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

• Frost, Robert (1962). In the Clearing (First ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. LCCN 62-011578.
• Meyers, Jeffrey (1996). Robert Frost: A Biography. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-72809-6.
• Parini, Jay (1999). Robert Frost: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc. ISBN 0-8050-3181-2.