Mending Wall Analysis

North of Boston1914Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it

Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him,

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me,

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his father's saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours."

.: :.

In my point of view, Frost is telling us about the absurdity of walls, especially in the modern age. The wall doesn't seem to have any purpose. But the neighbor is traditionalist and conservative, so he is not understanding it. On the other hand, the speaker is for liberalism, so he is trying to convince him that we all should be free.

| Posted on 2008-09-14 | by a guest

.: :.

The poem mending wall, to me, is about an internal conflict in the narrator. He has to set boundaries for himself so the evil, represented by the pine trees, won't over come the good, the apple trees. The bible says But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. With out this wall the narrator couldn't produce any of these seven traits. This is why Frost uses an apple tree to portray himself. He is fruitful as long as his boundary against evil is set up.

| Posted on 2008-09-07 | by a guest

.: :.

'something there that doesnt love a wall' frost is truely symbolising himself. the poem is a milistic description of this activity of menesding a wall. he's nor maristilic or judgemental about the activity. frost agress at the end 'good fences make good neighbours' meaning we'll be friends but dont cross the boundary lines.

| Posted on 2008-08-31 | by a guest

.: :.

THe two different kinds of forest maybe metaphor for different personalities, but becausce of the emotional barriers we put up, they will never co exist or encompass each other

| Posted on 2008-07-30 | by a guest

.: :.

the wall as fairly - frequently in frost is a symbol of separation and the sketchy dialogue between the men discusses the significance of walls.

| Posted on 2008-07-17 | by a guest

.: :.

the wall as fairly - frequently in frost is a symbol of separation and the sketchy dialogue between the men discusses the significance of walls.

| Posted on 2008-07-17 | by a guest

.: Politics? :.

I think that Roberts dad influenced him alot in this poem becasue that is kinda how his dad veiwed politics. His dad did not want to change his view about anything thing so he put up a "wall" and moved across the country to California where Frost would later be born

| Posted on 2008-05-27 | by a guest

.: DOGS VS CATS :.

I think after reading poem that some how we talkng dogs escaping into your neighbours backyard and cats prowling in the dark at night.

| Posted on 2008-05-26 | by a guest

.: human. :.

i believe this poem is a metaphor for all people. i think that robert frost i talking about how all people but up walls and barriers around themselves to protect themselves against others. In doing this people block out others and dont give them a chance to build a friendship with us. the peom also talks about how it us against nature to put up walls "we have to use a spell to make them balance: 'stay where you are until our backs are turned!'" these lines in te poem are saying that the walls dont stay up, they are ot meant to be there. "we wear our fingers rough with handling them" this is talking about when we put up walls in our lives it wears us out!

| Posted on 2008-05-25 | by a guest

.: mendin wall :.

i think this poem is trying to get across that eventhough the two neighbors build that wall because each one of them want their privacy but the other one just wants to be friends.so by buildung that wall is actually getting them to know each other and respect each others opinion

| Posted on 2008-05-15 | by a guest

.: toss pot :.

The central metaphor is that good fences make good neighbours. The poem relates the story of two neighbours repairing a damaged fence together and doing so every spring, in a way they are united in their efforts and even make a game of it. The neighbours have different views on weather the fence is really needed, but they accept each others opinion and mend the wall. As mentioned earlier, one neighbour is prepared for changed and the other will not let go of tradition. Perhaps it is good neighbours that make good fences.

| Posted on 2008-04-17 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

Since it has not been mentioned before, in a way, the poem could be about lonliness. About how the wall is keeping the two apart, whether the narrator is a woman that loves her neighbor, or just a man that appreciates the good work of his neighbor. In either case, the man wants the wall to be there, but the neighbor may feel otherwise. They might also agree for different reason.

| Posted on 2008-04-12 | by a guest

.: A 14 year-old :.

Since it has not been mentioned before, in a way, the poem could be about lonliness. About how the wall is keeping the two apart, whether the narrator is a woman that loves her neighbor, or just a man that appreciates the good work of his neighbor. In either case, the man wants the wall to be there, but the neighbor may feel otherwise. They might also agree for different reason.

| Posted on 2008-04-12 | by a guest

.: Dude. im ovbiously human. :.

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874, and he died in Boston Massachusetts in 1963. Before becoming a successful poet, Frost attended Dartmouth College and Harvard College, then he married his wife, Elinor White. After a few years of not being able to publish a poem, Frost moved to England where his poetry took flight. Frost’s poems concentrate on ordinary subject matter, but involve deep emotion and symbolism. Frost has publish cheerful, humorous poems right to dark, tragic poems. Robert Frosts Mending Wall poem is about both physical metaphorical walls and barriers between two neighbor’s because of a wall. It has obvious physical characteristics, but it also has a sense of mental fortification between the two neighbors. Most walls have a direction, a motive for why they are there. Why then is there a counter-productive and impractical wall, in the middle of no where? Is there a hidden purpose why the neighbors need this wall, perhaps a sense of security? Yes or no, this wall carries deep value.
The main barrier that any roadblock makes is the actual physical component of the wall. The definition of a wall is “a permanent enclosing thing” . That is the true purpose of a wall. “Before I built a wall, I’d ask to know what I was walling in or out, And to whom I was giving offence”(Frost, 32-34) What is this wall walling in or out? Really, there is no reason for these neighbors to have a wall. “He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines.”(Frost, 24-26)
A wall can also carry mental and psychological barriers, those you cannot see but you know they are there. Such as when two people are in a fight, and are not talking to each other. To the casual onlooker, there would appear to be nothing. But in reality there are numerous walls. Walls can give neighbors the idea that perhaps they do not like you, and he or she wants as much separation from you as possible. There make also be misconception with walls, with one neighbor not think at all that the wall is offensive, while the other is appalled.
On the complete other hand, a rock wall that needs to be reconstructed annually
can bring neighbors together. Once a year or once a season, the two men get together to repair the wall. This could be a bonding time for the two. However, a line says “to each the boulders that have fallen to each”(Frost, 16). This says that there was no helping between the two, but that could be because it is a manly thing to do your own work, no help needed. The wall can also be a place for conversation, a place to say while keeping ones privacy intact. Also, it could be that the two men take pride in their wall, making other neighbors jealous.
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (Frost,1). If this particular wall is not loved by nature, by hunters, or by the wall-builders themselves, then is the wall serving its purpose? The wall brings physical barriers, walling something in and something out. It has symbolic barriers, in the sense that the wall can distance two neighbors. But a wall can also bring two neighbors together, and that is the true meaning of this poem. Everything in life has two sides to it- whether the glass is half full or half empty. It is up to us to choose what the real meaning is, from anything important in life, to something as simple as a mending wall.

| Posted on 2008-03-31 | by a guest

.: quotes :.

this poem has two contradictory lines,"Something there is that doesnt love a wall" and "Good fences make good friends".both right, man cannot live without, limitations or bounderies; he also resents all bonds and is content wit the downfall of any barrier.

| Posted on 2008-03-26 | by a guest

.: :.

thanks to all those who hav posted thr view
realy got a useful info abt the poem
it is thr for ma exams
thanks 1s again

| Posted on 2008-03-26 | by a guest

.: A viewpoint :.

I think Frost uses giddy springtime fun, exemplified by talking to the balanced balls, to call attention to the effort of overcoming receieved, conventional wisdom, his neighbor's father's simple saying.

| Posted on 2008-03-03 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall :.

I believe the nieghbor just wanted a little privacy from his peeping tom nighbor always looking at him with that akward eye always noising around when he and his significant other were feeling a little rowdy uhhuaahaahaahaaah.... but anyways I feel the wall is effing dumb....Im outie peace

| Posted on 2008-02-27 | by a guest

.: Peter C ROXS :.

I think that this poem is a fight between a liberal and a democrat. The speaker as we can all see is a layed back type of person while as the neighbour is more of a old fashion guy who likes his walls. When teaching this poem to a 3rd class pupil it is obvious that the speaker is the good guy in a good bad story but if you look into this more deeply you find that the speaker is the pushy aggressive commanding person and in some sense he is trying to bully or pere pressure the neighbour to demolishing the wall. Now the neighbour from my point of view isnt trying to offend the speaker but just trying to find the markers or but up boundaries as to who owns what.

| Posted on 2008-02-26 | by a guest

.: Upanishad and Frost :.

FROST's 'STOPPING BY WOODS' and UPANISHAD
by SANTHOSH KUMAR KANA, INDIA. Kathopanishad, the human body is compared to a chariot, the intellect to the charioteer, the senses to horses, the objects of the senses the roads or things outside.The driver is responsible for the movement of the chariot. In the poem, the charioteer exercises his intellect and takes the chariot ahead overcoming the attraction of the lovely woods. A person who cannot resist the temptation of sense objects bringing the senses under control can't have a successful or peaceful life. The picture of the poet in the carriage in the poem is a visual representation of the spiritual truth in Kathopanishad.

| Posted on 2008-02-26 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

Frost's "Mending Wall" and Tagore's "Gitanjali"
SANTHOSH KUMAR x wall can be a symbol of Ego. It is ego which creates divisions; divisions are for possession and possession satisfies the ego and keeps it strong. Ego is born out of narrow conclusions and ignorance like the unwanted wall built in which one loses one’s true perception of self or reality. The wall of ego gets broken by the reality of life and the ignorant keep mending it. Rabindranath Tagore writes in the Gitanjali
“He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow. I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest a least hole should be left in this name; and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being”.
(Passage No.29)
The poem can also be read as a poetic version of Reader-Response criticism. A text is no finished product and it is the reader who breaks the built-in conclusions about it and gives it new meaning. The conventional reader keeps mending the gaps and resists any new reading. The basis of deconstructive reading is expanding the gaps in a text.
_

| Posted on 2008-02-26 | by a guest

.: critique of "Mending Wall :.

ATTEMPTS TO CONVINCE AND CONSTRUCT:
ROBERT FROST’S ‘MENDING WALL’
Santhosh Kumar x x Poem ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost is centered around all the possible attempts made by the speaker in the poem to convince his neighbor about the futility and the insignificance of building a wall or mending the gaps in the wall where according to him, Nature itself doesn’t prefer one. The wall can be said to symbolize religious, caste, racial, political differences or discriminations, social prohibitions, division of private property, border issues etc. But the focal point of the chief argument in the poem seems to be referring to diverse attempts of the speaker who by way of his arguments reveals or constructs himself to be more scientific, rational, broad and humane like his neighbor who is a closed individual. The contrast gets magnified when the speaker fails to convince his neighbor who sticks firmly to/within his built-in prejudices and notions.
The neighbor’s persona constructed thus by the speaker is of an uncompromising orthodox. The poem shows how one constructs the other-racial, linguistic and cultural constructions. The neighbor is constantly trying to resist cultural intrusions or conquests. The speaker’s attempt is not to transform his neighbor or to transfer him to his side or views but to make him rationalize his convictions. He seeks a justification for his deeds or beliefs. The neighbor is urged throughout to do a self-analysis. The speaker lays before him facts to facilitate this:
1. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under your pine
2. There are no cows here to trespass into each one’s land
3. Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out and to whom I was like to give offence.
These arguments fail and the neighbor repeats, “Good fences make good neighbors”. The speaker wants the neighbor to say if nothing but “elves” typical to his beliefs and unscientific outlook. The speaker implies it when he says “I’d rather he said it for himself”. The neighbor is all notions built on irrationality. The speaker even says overtly that if only he could put at least his views like a “notion” in the neighbor’s head implying notions could facilitate a change in his views. The neighbor is referred to in the rudest terms as an ignorant, irrational, uncivilized Stone Age man. The speaker tries to avoid rhetoric throughout the poem. It is clear when he says, “Not of woods only and the shade of trees” (line No.41). He wants to put the notion in his head without a garb of pretence, jargons or rhetoric. The contrast is clear in the impervious neighbor’s repetition which is pure rhetoric “Good fences make good neighbors”.
The poem thus speaks less about the wall but more about forming a conviction, an attitude or ideology. The speaker intends to convey that ignorance persists in spite of his repeated attempts and down-to-earth logic. Like in Edward Albee’s ‘The Zoo Story’, the ‘you’ and ‘I’ divide gets stronger here.
The wall can be a symbol of Ego. It is ego which creates divisions; divisions are for possession and possession satisfies the ego and keeps it strong. Ego is born out of narrow conclusions and ignorance like the unwanted wall built in which one loses one’s true perception of self or reality. The wall of ego gets broken by the reality of life and the ignorant keep mending it. Rabindra

| Posted on 2008-02-25 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall :.

The importance in this poem is not in the wall itself but the fact that the subject is questioning why we need them. In addition the "He is all pine and I am all apple orchard my apple trees will never get across" refers to ideas and that because his neighbor is simply repeating what he has been taught by his father the words of the subject will never reach him. In addition up until line 10 I see the hunter and nature as two different forces working together to achieve the common goal of b

| Posted on 2008-01-14 | by a guest

.: analysis :.

Written in 1914 this poem is a metaphor for WW1 the fences that the European Nations constructed between each other turned out to make for bad neighbors. Frost is advocating more tolerance amongst different nations.

| Posted on 2008-01-07 | by a guest

.: william from china sha :.

as we all know that there are two totally different attitudes revealed in the poem in which the neighbor tries to build a wall so as to form a good relationship with his surronding neighors while the authors attitude is totally different since he is convinced that no wall could also make good neighbors.the former reveals the point of view that every family has a skeleton in the cardboard therefore it is righteous to keep our life a little bit secret; while the latter is somewhat straightforwa

| Posted on 2008-01-05 | by a guest

.: :.

I believe the point of the peom is that walls (literal and symbolic) are what alienate and seperate us from each other.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence

Frost is using a Transcendentalism like approach to make the point that closed mindedness is what divides and limits us as a people.

| Posted on 2007-11-30 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall :.

I don't know exactly where, but in some place they do actually build walls to stop their cows from going over to another piece of land that belongs to someone else. I think this poem is also about this, but also that "making the wall" keeps the relationship between a man and his neighbour steady.
The narrator is wondering though, why they're building the wall to keep their relationship (as friends, not as lovers as some thought), while they can also be friends without the need of building a wall.
At the same time, it's also ironic, because a wall also means someone needs privacy or doesn't let anybody in, but in this poem it's the way the two neighbours interact!

| Posted on 2007-11-29 | by a guest

.: mending wall :.

this poem to me means that something within us all is aggressive or may be evil that does not respect the barriors between people. good barriors that we need; may i suggest that we all create a code of conduct that must be respected. for we at times want, out of selfeshness, to destroy other people. but also, we are like hunters that need to take advantage of others to survive. well, this is what i have gotton out of the first 10 lines of the poem. also, my last thought is that we need some type of wall just so we can behave justly toward eachother. let us make sure that our walls are with good purpose, "good fences make good neighbors."

| Posted on 2007-10-26 | by a guest

.: my opinion on Mending Wal :.

i am studying this poem in school, and i believe that he has gone through a lot of pain when it comes to love.He is trying to say that he built a wall to protect his heart which has been hurt by previous lovers.However he is willing to take a risk,even thought his previous lovers made no genuine attempt to builb a solid relationship e.g "Where they have left not one stone on a stone".From analysing this poem it reminds me of his other poem 'To Earthward',which conveys the same hurt and agony that comes from love.

| Posted on 2007-10-17 | by a guest

.: :.

I personally thought that Frost was trying to convey homosexuality. I have come to this conclusion from the lines 16 to 26. There is clearly some sexual tension between the neighbors where one wants to put up a wall between each other to block the other's sexual advances. The narrator is obviously more passionate about the relationship and wishes the wall to remain fallen so they can further explore their relationship.

| Posted on 2007-09-26 | by a guest

.: Fabio Miguel :.

In A level we are now analysing this poem by frost.
As He mentions the Mending wall, it makes us think and mediatate more in what are our own barriers, towards different aspects in life.
Although Frost seems disapointed and even angry with his "neighbour's" attitude, he himself does not come up with a final soulution to this problem, as he keeps on arguing only that views have to be changed, and not that a "wall" should not exist at all.

| Posted on 2007-09-22 | by a guest

.: :.

I am struck by the title, "Mending Wall". It can be interpreted in two ways. Mending wall could be a verb phrase, in which case the wall is being mended. The irony in this, is that what is being mended is the very thing that is keeping the neighbors' relationship in need of mending. The other way in which one could interpret the title is that mending wall is a noun, the actual wall, and it is for mending. Perhaps we are to hope that, by the two neighbors being brought together for the common goal of rebuilding the wall, there is some kind of mending occuring between them, or some kind of mending which might occur in the future. Either way you perceive it, there is irony in the title, as there is in the content of the poem itself.

| Posted on 2007-09-05 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall :.

I am studying this poem for school and I think that "Mending Wall" is essentially about human nature. The wall is built to keep something out, but the narrator questions this. What are they trying to keep out? They don't have cows, and it's not like his apples are going to take over the neighbours pines. He says "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know what I was walling in or walling out" showing his opinion on the wall.
It is about fear and people being afraid of the unknown.
He describes that neighbour as ignorant, this is shown when he says "like an old-stone savage armed". This gives the image of a cave man or something, making him seem basic and uncivilised, compared to the narrator who is thoughtful and open to ideas.
There is irony in the fact that they are doing something together(fixing the wall) which keeps them apart.

| Posted on 2007-08-13 | by a guest

.: A brief look :.

Th“The Mending Wall” is one of Frost’s most appreciable poems especially for its concept of entropy and natural order, which is also a recurring theme in many other of Frost’s poems. The poem opens simply with “Something there is that doesn't love a wall” and the remainder of the poem serves as an explanation of this statement. The poem indeed presents two opposing views, “Good fences make good neighbours” and the narrator’s response which is the simple question of “why?” As we are positioned to accept the narrator’s stance we are so too positioned to ask what it is that “doesn’t love a wall.” The answer to this is presented in the following extract: “The gaps I mean, / No one has seen them made or heard them made, / But at spring mending-time we find them there.” In this way, Frost is trying to imply that it is nature that dislikes a wall, and that things will always decay (entropy).

| Posted on 2007-07-10 | by a guest

.: :.

Well, as my interpretation, "Mending Wall" presents a lack of understanding, as both characters must rebuild a wall as their sole interaction. The wall is a result of a disliking of some sort. Hence, the mending wall keeps the relation between the two stable, preventing any choas within nature. Though it is not desired, the mending wall is a sign of natural forces that compell both characters to continue rebuilding the wall, rather than setting aside their differences and embracing one another through natural means.

| Posted on 2007-06-03 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall :.

Mending wall is a poem on which walls are been rebuilt. Although the walls keep falling done they are rebuilt. This shows the waste of energy, and shows us that if nature does not want something, it will destroy it. Fences are being rebuilt because the father says "Good fences make good neighbours" but this is not always true.

| Posted on 2007-06-03 | by a guest

.: ye :.

The poem Mending Wall is not about building a wall between two neighbours but what is being celebrated is the process in itself. I think the persona is using the phrase instilled in him by his father that 'Good ence make good neighbour' as an excuse to interact with his neighbour. Therefore its not only wall building persae but a sociable and societal process also.

| Posted on 2007-05-14 | by a guest

.: :.

No one has yet mentioned the repetition of "good fences make good neighbours" this is said by the neighbour. It automatically conveys the thoughts of the person the author is conversing with. Fences are made to keep things out, this saying illustrates the sense that best neighbours are ones that aren’t seen or heard. This one phrase shows the reluctance to partake in the breaking down of any emotional or social barriers.

| Posted on 2007-05-08 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

The wall is the barriers we set between eachother, we are isolationists and don't like to open up to others. The one guy is lonely and wants to have a deep meaningful relationship with the other guy, thus their different trees mingle, the become part of one another. However people are afraid of eachother and don't allow this to happen.

| Posted on 2007-05-01 | by a guest

.: Mending Wall Analysis :.

The poem “Mending Wall” is speaking of a wall between the speaker and his neighbor. The wall had toppled over, and the two neighbors were repairing the wall. The speaker soon asks the neighbor why the wall must be there at all, and mentions that there must be a reason why the wall keeps falling down; that something (or someone) wants it down, which could possibly be referring to the speaker’s emotions, or him wanting the wall down.

| Posted on 2007-04-30 | by a guest