Poem recited at John F. Kennedy's Inauguration by Robert Frost
The land was ours before we were the land’s She was our land more than a hundred years Before we were her people. She was ours In Massachusetts, in Virginia, But we were England’s, still colonials, Possessing what we still were unpossessed by, Possessed by what we now no more possessed. 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 (The deed of gift was many deeds of war) To the land vaguely realizing westward, But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced, Such as she was, such as she will become.
Thoughts about this Poem
Robert Frost was asked to deliver a poem at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. He describes the history of America from the time of being only a colony of England. He said it was America because we owned the land but in the beginning were tied to England. He reminded us that the lessons of the land taught us to go back to our beliefs in freedom. Kennedy ask Frost to change the last line from “Such as she would become” to “Such as she will become”. The change reminds us of Kennedy and his optimism.