Poetry Slam!: "The Death of the Hired Man" by Robert Frost

This narrative poem tells the story of an elderly laborer who returns to a farm at which he once worked. Read the poem here.

Here are links to our lists for other poems by Robert Frost: "After Apple-Picking", "Mending Wall", "Out, Out—", "Birches"
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
    Mary sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table
    Waiting for Warren.
  2. beholden
    under a moral obligation to someone
    He thinks he ought to earn a little pay,
    Enough at least to buy tobacco with,
    So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.
  3. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    You can be certain,
    When he begins like that, there’s someone at him
    Trying to coax him off with pocket-money
  4. scarce
    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
    In haying time, when any help is scarce.
    In winter he comes back to us. I’m done.
  5. huddle
    crouch or curl up
    When I came up from Rowe’s I found him here,
    Huddled against the barn-door fast asleep,
    A miserable sight, and frightening, too
  6. grudge
    harbor ill feelings
    Surely you wouldn’t grudge the poor old man
    Some humble way to save his self-respect.
  7. jumble
    bring into random order
    He jumbled everything. I stopped to look
    Two or three times—he made me feel so queer—
    To see if he was talking in his sleep.
  8. declare
    state firmly
    He’s finished school, and teaching in his college.
    Silas declares you’ll have to get him back.
  9. daft
    foolish or mentally irregular
    He thinks young Wilson a likely lad, though daft
    On education—
  10. blaze
    burn brightly and intensely
    ...you know how they fought
    All through July under the blazing sun,
    Silas up on the cart to build the load,
    Harold along beside to pitch it on.
  11. pitch
    throw or toss
    ...you know how they fought
    All through July under the blazing sun,
    Silas up on the cart to build the load,
    Harold along beside to pitch it on.
  12. assurance
    freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
    Well, those days trouble Silas like a dream.
    You wouldn’t think they would. How some things linger!
    Harold’s young college boy’s assurance piqued him.
  13. pique
    cause to feel resentment or indignation
    Harold’s young college boy’s assurance piqued him.
    After so many years he still keeps finding
    Good arguments he sees he might have used.
  14. associate
    make a logical or causal connection
    Harold’s associated in his mind with Latin.
    He asked me what I thought of Harold’s saying
    He studied Latin like the violin
    Because he liked it—that an argument!
  15. dislodge
    remove or force out from a position
    He bundles every forkful in its place,
    And tags and numbers it for future reference,
    So he can find and easily dislodge it
  16. harp
    a chordophone with strings between the neck and the soundbox
    She put out her hand
    Among the harp-like morning-glory strings,
    Taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves
  17. taut
    pulled or drawn tight
    She put out her hand
    Among the harp-like morning-glory strings,
    Taut with the dew from garden bed to eaves,
    As if she played unheard some tenderness
    That wrought on him beside her in the night.
  18. mock
    treat with contempt
    ‘Home,’ he mocked gently.
  19. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    I can tell you.
    Silas is what he is—we wouldn’t mind him—
    But just the kind that kinsfolk can’t abide.
  20. lounge
    an upholstered seat for more than one person
    He wouldn’t let me put him on the lounge.
Created on Wed Feb 06 16:46:56 EST 2013 (updated Tue Nov 28 13:55:55 EST 2017)

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