IOC mending wall

This passage is poem “mending wall” from the book entitled “North of Boston” written by
Robert Frost in the early 20th century. Mending wall resides as a classic example of the Robert
Frost’s literary skills and ability to be able to instill insights of deeper explorations into obscure
and simple language. The poem’s introspective nature is complimented by the symbolic
representations that inhibit a deeper, metaphorical reflection on social boundaries and division.
The poem Mending Wall discusses the story of two neighbors, whose houses are separated by a
wall. The wall mysteriously breaks down – most prominently in the season of spring. No matter
how hard the narrator and his neighbor try, the wall will end up breaking due to “something
out there”. The narrator further elaborates on the futility of the wall, since there is nothing that
it truly separates. Nonetheless, there is a belief in his neighbor that “good wall makes good
neighbors”. Thus, the narrator is uncertain of the true reason of the existence of the wall,
however, under his neighbor’s influence, he tries to patch it together. Despite the deceptively
simplistic premise, the strong themes of alienation and loneliness , custom and tradition and
order and disorder develop an enticing and layered dialogue that highlights the poem as a
timeless piece of Frost’s early career.
The poem begins with the use of personification, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”
The narrator uses the word ‘something’ in place of ‘someone’, alluding to the fact that the
entity he is referring to is not a person, in which he implies that the entity is against the
construction of a wall, using a ‘wall’ as a metaphor for both physical and mental barriers. Then
the author moves onto to further describing the entity in greater detail, “That sends the frozen-
ground-swell under it.” Using this line the author makes it clear that the entity he was talking
about is nature. The nature breaks the wall because it doesn’t want the wall to stay there.
Then the author talks about how hunters are another reason for breaking down of the wall
“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”. ”. However, unlike nature which is characterized as having
disdain for the wall perhaps due to the construct imposing upon its boundaries, the hunters
seem to have different intentions. “But they would have rabbit out of hiding, to please the
yelping dogs.” The narrator exclaims that the hunters destroy the wall with the intention of
hunting for prey, the hunters are further depicted to be quite self-interested as despite the
beckons of the narrator, the hunters do not repair the wall after destroying it. This disparity of
intention creates a contrast between the hunters and nature, in which even the narrator seems
to express empathy for the entity that destroys the wall whereas he expresses frustration with
the hunters for consistently damaging the wall due to their self-interest and disregard for the
narrator.
Then the author introduces his neighbor . The neighbor and the narrator seem to share a
disjointed relationship, only meeting to rebuild the wall.” 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.” The narrator clarifies that they keep the wall in
between when they do the mending job. Using metaphor in lines fifteen and sixteen to
compare the shape of boulders to that of a loaf of bread and a ball, perhaps being a metaphor
to describe people and the immense variation of people and their intentions which makes it
difficult to bring them together. Further metaphorical comparisons are brought up in line
twenty, as the narrator compares the mending of the wall to an outdoor game. This comparison
provides contextual clarity as the speaker likens the whole process of mending to that of a
game, he seems to have found an unconventional form of enjoyment through building the wall
rather than treating it as a duty.

“ 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.” The
narrator uses personification to indicate that the wall is utterly unnecessary as he exclaims that
his neighbour is ‘all pine’ and he is ‘apple orchard’ showing that his side of nature will never
cause harm to his neighbor’s side hence proving how pointless the wall is.However the
neighbor disagrees saying the old proverb ‘Good fences make good neighbours. The narrator
questions the neighbour’s philosophy, questioning why boundaries strengthen the relationship
between neighbours,saying that if was supposed to build a wall he would need a proper reason
and purpose to build it. In line 41, the neighbor is compared in appearance to an ‘old-stone
savage armed’. The poet uses simile to compare the appearance of the neighbour with an
armed old-stone savage. This is also symbolic in suggesting that the neighbour’s thoughts and
ideas were archaic. Furthemore the narrator doesn’t see a reason to keep rebuilding a wall but
he still does it because he gets a sense of personal satisfaction from it.
The poem concludes with revelation of the neighbour’s saying being not of his own, but his
fathers which he adheres to. The neighbour’s sentiments seem to be founded upon a sense of
traditionalism and the narrator highlights a metaphorical ‘darkness’ that resides within the
neighbour, perhaps serving as the genesis for the development of isolation that the neighbour
desires. The use of repetition to highlight the neighbour’s proverb and the reference to the
entity that is not fond of the existence of the wall serves as an interesting contrast as these are
the only two lines that are repeated, perhaps to show that the neighbour’s philosophy clashes
with the desires of nature itself.
In conclusion Mending wall , Through this poem, Frost has tried to explore the way people
isolate themselves physically and emotionally by building barriers like fences to derive sense of
safety. It is believed to be built upon frost’s relationship with his neighbor. The poem is written
in unrhymed iambic pentameter or blank verse with the majority of lines containing ten
syllables and its written in first person perspective and in a continuous fashion rather than
being divided into stanzas , this is to enhance the informal conversational tone and giving it the
effect of an elaborate artistic piece.