Mending Wall

Robert Frost

Something 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 neighbor 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 neighbors'. Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: 'Why do they make good neighbors?

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 neighbors.

Background to Robert Frost American poet Write deceptively simple verse but with subtle and profound thoughts and feelings Teacher and a farmer Symbolism from the countryside of New England Focuses mainly on relationship between man and nature usually at odds with one another man will never really be able to understand nature Won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times

The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them.
ROBERT FROST

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

ROBERT FROST

Background to Mending Wall Examines the nature and purpose of WALLS by contrasting man and nature: one builds walls, the other destroys them Central refrain:

Good fences make good neighbours

Speaker: dislikes or disapproves of walls, understands that they divide and separate people Neighbour: likes and approves of walls, sees them as creating boundaries and fostering good neighbourliness

Speaker feels there is something living, natural thing which does not like walls and causes them to fall down Something: sense of mystery, cannot be rationalised

Water in ground freezes, expands and causes the ground to swell Compound noun: describes the process Nature appears contemptuous of mans efforts

Something 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 ground swells under the wall and causes the boulders (dry stone wall) to collapse Spillsin the sun: sense of abandon and generosity vs the meanness and pettiness of man who restricts and builds walls The missing boulders form gaps in the wall that are big enough for two people to walk through side-by-side Speaker approves of this allows people to communicate rather than set up divisions between them

Sometimes he can see that hunters have broken the wall down

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 speakers respect for nature is

obvious in his attitude towards the hunter and the dogs

The gaps he finds most interesting are those that appear mysteriously, for which there appears to be no rational cause This adds to the sense of mystery introduced in line 1

Seems to be a regular, seasonal job that happens once a year

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;

beyond the hill stresses distance the wall has not been erected to ensure privacy

IRONY: The only time they meet is when they repair the wall that keeps them separate

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.
Repairing of the wall sense of separation and division each keeps to his own side of the wall do not cross over onto the others property

Stresses the repetitive cycle man is subjected to the seasonal shifts also suggests the inevitability of the wall collapsing and having to be rebuilt on an annual basis

METAPHOR

Repetition of each stresses their separateness and also the neighbours somewhat childish and absurd attitude if the stone is on your side then you pick it up

Different shapes and sizes METAPHOR

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:
Division & separateness
Narrators attitude is playful he cannot take it seriously and does not consider it important

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'.

Neighbours negative attitude good social relationships cannot exist when men are separated from one another

Wants to shake up his neighbours attitude see if he can suggest an alternative view or another way of looking at the wall.

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: 'Why do they make good neighbours?

Is he implying that the neighbour is empty-headed?

He cannot see any practical purpose for the wall no cows to be separated by the wall he stresses the ABSURDITY of building the wall in this particular location

Some people are upset by the presence of the wall e.g. the speaker he feels that he has been shut out without any real reason

Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know In his mind the wall What I was walling in or walling out, has to serve some And to whom I was like to give offence. logical purpose Something there is that doesn't love a wall, PUN 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. His true motives are starting to
Some natural (now supernatural) thing in nature that does not approve of the presence of the wall suggests Elves become clearer he wants to change the way his neighbour thinks WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE WALL?

SIMILE Neighbour = like a caveman Stone = weapon What is he saying about himself in comparison?

FIGURATIVE DARKNESS Unenlightened Has not moved with the times

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 neighbors.

He is not prepared to think beyond that which he has been taught by his father what was good enough for his father is good enough for him poem ends with the REPETITION of his fathers words.