{"id":7050657,"date":"2026-08-29T05:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T05:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/americanstudies-january-21-2026-occasional-poems-frost-for-kennedy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T05:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T05:07:27","slug":"americanstudies-january-21-2026-occasional-poems-frost-for-kennedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7050657","title":{"rendered":"AmericanStudies: January 21, 2026: Occasional Poems: Frost for Kennedy"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[65 years
\nago Tuesday<\/a>, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated
\nas President<\/a>. One of the most famous parts of that January 1961 event was Robert
\nFrost\u2019s powerful poem<\/a>, so this week I\u2019ll AmericanStudy that text
\nand other occasional poetry from American history. Leading up to a first for
\nthis blog, a piece of my own creative writing!]<\/p>\n

On the first poem read at an inauguration, the poem that could
\nhave been but wasn\u2019t, and what we both lost and gained as a result. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because a number of the recent
\npresidential inaugurations have featured poetic readings (the last five in which Democrats were inaugurated<\/a>\u2014it\u2019s
\nfunny that only Democratic Presidents seem interested in featuring these
\ncultural figures and works\u2026), it might seem like the practice has been long-established
\nor consistently present at these historic events. But really the opposite is
\ntrue: the first such inaugural poet in American history, and the only one
\nbefore Clinton restarted the practice in 1993 (inviting Maya Angelou, on whose
\ninaugural poem more tomorrow), was Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy\u2019s
\ninauguration 65 years ago today. Kennedy was a
\nbig fan of Frost\u2019s<\/a>, noting that \u201cI\u2019ve never taken the view the world of
\npolitics and the world of poetry are so far apart\u201d (both perspectives that Frost
\nhimself had recently reciprocated and reinforced by actively supporting
\nKennedy\u2019s campaign<\/a>), and asked the poet to read his 1923 poem \u201cThe Gift
\nOutright<\/a>\u201d at the inauguration. <\/span><\/p>\n

Never one to do things the easy
\nway<\/a>, though, the 86-year-old Frost apparently didn\u2019t want to just read that
\nexisting poem. He drafted a new prefatory poem for the occasion, \u201cDedication<\/a>\u201d
\n(later expanded and known as \u201cFor
\nJohn F. Kennedy His Inauguration<\/a>\u201d), which he planned to read ahead of \u201cGift.\u201d
\nUnfortunately the glare from the morning sun (especially as reflected by the
\nnew-fallen show from a serious nor\u2019easter<\/a>
\nwhich had hit the city over the previous two days) made it impossible for Frost
\nto read this new work from his papers; after struggling for a bit he noted<\/a>, \u201cthis was to
\nhave been a preface to a poem which I do not have to read\u201d and then, like the
\nbadass he was, recited \u201cThe Gift Outright\u201d from memory. He subsequently gave
\nKennedy first a manuscript
\ncopy<\/a> of the original \u201cDedication\u201d and then another of the expanded poem \u201cFor
\nJohn. F Kennedy His Inauguration,\u201d which Frost had published in his 1962
\ncollection In
\nthe Clearing<\/a><\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

I love the idea of Frost sharing a new
\npoem as part of this inaugural inaugural poetry reading (repetition poetically intended,
\nobvi), and \u201cDedication\u201d begins with a really fun invocation of the occasion
\nthat I\u2019m sorry he didn\u2019t get to share there: \u201cSummoning artists to participate\/In
\nthe august occasions of the state\/Seems something artists ought to celebrate.\/Today
\nis for my cause a day of days.\/And his be poetry\u2019s old-fashioned praise\/Who was
\nthe first to think of such a thing.\u201d But on the other hand, later in the poem Frost
\nwrites, \u201cWe see how seriously the races swarm\/In their attempts at sovereignty
\nand form.\/They are our wards we think to some extent\/For the time being and
\nwith their consent,\/To teach them how Democracy is meant.\u201d There are a number
\nof problems with those lines, but I would particularly note that as a preface
\nto \u201cGift,\u201d which more or less directly features a Manifest Destiny-like vision
\nof American history and land, it\u2019s especially problematic to refer to other \u201craces\u201d
\nas \u201cour
\nwards<\/a>.\u201d I have to say I\u2019m glad those phrases weren\u2019t part of the first poetic
\nwork to be read at an inauguration. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next occasional poem tomorrow,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What do you think? Occasional poetry you\u2019d share?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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