Robert McCrum: The triumph of transnational English

Now, in the final countdown to Obama's inauguration, there's all kinds of speculation about the content of this historic moment. The most recent New Yorker has a fascinating piece by Jill Lepore about previous inaugural moments, from Washington to Kennedy. But she does not – surprisingly – look at the role played by Robert Frost at an equally momentous occasion: JFK's swearing-in on 20 January 1961.

Here's what happened back then.

Frost, America's greatest living poet, was invited by Kennedy to read a poem at the inauguration, and duly composed some new verse entitled "Dedication". But on the day, the old man, blinded by brilliant sun on a frosty Washington morning, could not see to read his own words. Instead, he turned to lines he knew by heart, his 1942 poem, "The Gift Outright", a lovely patriotic piece that begins…

The land was ours before we were the land's.

She was our land more than a hundred years

Before we were her people ...