The Gift Outright

The words “America” or “United States” don’t appear in the poem. Instead, the speaker uses the term “the land,” with “the land” symbolizing the United States. While the historical context lets the reader know that “the land” represents America, the symbolism remains complex. The speaker declares, “The land was ours before we were the land’s” (Line 1). America is also a symbol of fate. If the reader looks at the line through the lens of destiny, the paradox resolves itself. The land belonged to the Americans before they could belong to it due to the fate embedded in the symbology. The Americans had to have the land, as the land represents an act of preordination.

Since the speaker refers to the land as “she,” the United States represents a woman. The Americans must “surrender” (Line 11) to the woman/country and become one with "her." The symbology scrambles gender dynamics. The woman/country has the power, and the Americans yield to it. The gender dynamics get subverted further as the “we” presumably contains women. Thus, other women, men, and people of any gender must submit to the women. Though the Americans didn’t want a monarch, the powerful, gendered symbolism of the land turns the land into something of a queen.