Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Such as we were we gave ourselves outright

As preparations coalesce for Barack Obama's inauguration, people are remembering inaugurals past.

Art JFK's inauguration, Robert Frost was set to read a poem he wrote for the event, but apparently the sun was glinting off his pages and so at the last minute he pulled a switcheroo and recited one of his other poems by heart.

That poem was "The Gift Outright," which at least one senior at my high school quoted in their yearbook entry (not everyone quotes "Freebird!") It has always stuck with me. I hope some words from the Obama inaugural live as long and mean as much.

"Something we were withholding made us weak.
Until we found out that it was ourselves,
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright"

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