Less than a month before his assassination, President John
F. Kennedy spoke at Amherst College, in Massachusetts, on October 27, 1963,
to praise American poet Robert Frost. The poet, a striking figure
with windblown hair at the inauguration of our thirty-fifth president,
had died in January 1963, and the tribute that Kennedy paid him became
a memorable statement on the value of the arts in American society.
Quotations from the president's speech, in fact, may be found carved in
his Washington memorial, the Kennedy Center.
President Kennedy's speech for this formal occasion emphasized
poetry ("he knew the midnight as well as the high noon") and balance ("A
nation reveals itself not only by the men it produced but also by the men
it honors, the men it remembers"). He freely cited Frost's poetry,
and he also quoted poet Archibald MacLeish, who attended the ceremony honoring
Frost.
Particularly effective is Kennedy's use of a favored construction
of speechwriters. His anaphora in beginning a series of sentences
with "I look forward" dates back at least to 1876, in the repeated "I see
a world" clauses that were used by Robert Green Ingersoll.
William Safire
...This day, devoted to the memory of Robert Frost, offers
an opportunity for reflection which is prized by politicians as well as
by others and even by poets. For Robert Frost was one of the granite
figures of our time in America. He was supremely two things -- an
artist and an American.
A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces
but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.
In America our heroes have customarily run to men of large
accomplishments. But today this college and country honors a man
whose contribution was not to our size but to our spirit; not to our political
beliefs but to our insight; not to our self-esteem but to our self-comprehension.
In honoring Robert Frost, we therefore can pay honor to
the deepest sources of our national strength. That strength takes
many forms, and the most obvious forms are not always the most significant.
The men who create power make an indispensable contribution
to the nation's greatness. But the men who question power make a
contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is
disinterested.
For they determine whether we use power or power uses
us. Our national strength matters; but the spirit which informs and
controls our strength matters just as much. This was the special
significance of Robert Frost.
He brought an unsparing instinct for reality to bear on
the platitudes and pieties of society. His sense of the human tragedy
fortified him against self-deception and easy consolation.
"I have been," he wrote, "one acquainted with the night."
And because he knew the midnight as well as the high noon,
because he understood the ordeal as well as the triumph of the human spirit,
he gave his age strength with which to overcome despair.
At bottom he held a deep faith in the spirit of man.
And it's hardly an accident that Robert Frost coupled poetry and power.
For he saw poetry as the means of saving power from itself.
When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds
him of his limitations. When power narrows the arrears of man's concern,
poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence.
When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.
For art establishes the basic human truths which must
serve as the touchstones of our judgment. The artist, however faithful
to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual
mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state.
The great artist is thus a solitary figure. He has,
as Frost said, "a lover's quarrel with the world." In pursuing his
perceptions of reality, he must often sail against the currents of his
time. This is not a popular role.
If Robert Frost was much honored during his lifetime,
it was because a good many preferred to ignore his darker truths.
Yet in retrospect we see how the artist's fidelity has
strengthened the fiber of our national life. If sometimes our great
artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their
sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true
artist, makes him aware that our nation falls short of its highest potential.
I see little of more importance to the future of our country
and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.
If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist
free to follow his vision wherever it takes him.
We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda;
it is a form of truth. And as Mr. MacLeish once remarked of poets.
"there is nothing worse for our trade than to be in style."
In free society, art is not a weapon and it does not belong
to the sphere of polemics and ideology. Artists are not engineers
of the soul.
It may be different elsewhere. But democratic society
-- in it -- the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is
to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may.
In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves
his nation. And the nation which disdains the mission of art invites
the fate of Robert Frost's hired man--"the fate of having nothing to look
backward to with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope."
I look forward to a great future for America -- a future
in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint,
its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.
I look forward to an America which will not be afraid
of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of our national environment,
which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks
of our national past and which will build handsome and balanced cities
for our future.
I look forward to an America which will reward achievement
in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft.
I look forward to an America which will steadily raise
the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge
cultural opportunities for all of our citizens.
And I look forward to an America which commands respect
throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization
as well.
And I look forward to a world which will be safe not only
for democracy and diversity but also for personal distinction.
Robert Frost was often skeptical about projects for human
improvement. Yet I do not think he would disdain this hope.
As he wrote during the uncertain days of the Second War:
Kennedy's speech caught my attention because he had articulated a vision for America while paying homage to Robert Frost, a great American. I recently visited the Center that bears his namesake a couple weeks ago in Washington D.C. I also visited, as most tourists do, the Smithsonian Institution museums in the heart of capitol. It will be a tradition for me, in the years to come, to visit this great city periodically. Seeing these places gives me hope and reminds me of what I believe to be the true America, if such a thing exists. But seeing these places leads me to despair on occasion. In my mind, Washington D.C. symbolizes the contradictions that lie at the heart of our country.
We have preserved, in those performing centers, museums, monuments, and libraries, not only what we may call the pinnacles of American achievement, but the pinnacles of human achievement. These buildings, their contents, and the people who maintain and contribute to them represent the potential of our great country and of human civilization. Yet, nearby these buildings, in any direction, are the institutions which house those who would represent the citizens of the United States, both nationally and internationally. The responsibilities and the principles that these institutions represent have not changed. They have been forsaken and abandoned by their present caretakers.
It may be that in any age, a country will be governed, for a time, by those unfit to rule because they covet fame, wealth, and power at the expense of their responsibilities and their citizens. I believe this to be such a time. I know that some in government have integrity and perform their duties with diligence. I also know that these few cannot support their inadequate brethren. But in a democratic society, the blame for poor stewardship must be shared by its citizens. We have created a government that lacks a vision for America. We have elected officials who are incapable of leading our country beyond the next election period, who spend the majority of their efforts dividing the country into factions that oppose one another over trivialities. We have always had the power to change this yet we act only when our individual livelihoods are threatened. And when we act, we act for our own interests and agendas and not for our nation. Although we may seem comfortable now, a storm is brewing and if it breaks, we will reap the terrible harvest that our apathy has sewn. For the sake of our generations to come, we must find within ourselves and amongst our citizens, the leaders who can lead this country to realize its full potential.
We need leaders who uphold and live the fundamental principles that define the spirit of what true civilization represents, principles that both incorporate and transcend the many ideals and morals that we have learned from our diverse cultures, both secular and sacred. We need leaders who can guide us to become better than we have been and better than we are now. We need leaders who will work to unite us in the task of making the world a better place for future generations. We need leaders who can give us hope. For until we find or become such people, we can only hope that our officials will walk through the streets and buildings of their own capitol some day and be reminded of their true responsibility: to create the country and the world envisioned in Kennedy's speech.
Idris Hsi
July 12, 1998
