But Outer Space

But Outer Space - meaning Summary

Popularity Outshines Substance

Frost wryly observes a gap between attention and reality. He notes that outer space, even only "this far," attracts more public excitement than it actually contains people. The poem compresses this idea into a tight ironic couplet: the spectacle or chatter of the populace elevates the idea of space beyond its real, uninhabited condition. Read as a comment on human fascination, it points to how publicity and imagination can make something seem more significant or immediate than it practically is.