Robert Frost was one of the most famous and important poets of the 20th century and his poem “Mending Wall” was published in 1914. It is one of his longer poems and it is written in blank verse. The poem was in Frost’s second collection of poetry. My reading process for this poem was over the course of a week and a half. My first reading was right after I had first seen the poem and then I waited three days until my next reading. Then I read the poem and wrote about it on a daily basis. In the beginning of my reading experience I thought the poem was literal in the sense of an actual wall. But after a few more readings I really starting looking at it in more of a metaphorical sense. By the end of my readings I had concluded that the poem was in a metaphorical sense.
My first reading of the poem has left me with many unanswered questions. The beginning lines were very confusing. I couldn’t quite tell if what Frost was saying was meant to be literal or not. Much of the first half is unclear to me. But by the second half I think I see more of the story. I do like the language Frost uses to describe the seasons and how they lead to the main character asking for the wall to be taken down. At this point I think that the story is about two men owning two plots of land and one wants to keep a wall up dividing them and closing them off from each other while the other wants to open the gap. I still don’t see much of the true meaning behind the story. But at the end of the story the main character says the neighbor repeats that his father said by saying, “good fences make good neighbors”. The second reading of the poem is slightly easier. I think I am beginning to understand some the metaphors that Frost is using. In line ten Frost s...
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...I do like to go back and reread my favorite parts of stories and books so analysing how my views and ideas change over a piece of writing was interesting for me. During my first read of something I often look at the work in a very literal sense. I am only trying to see what the writer is strictly saying and not really looking for any literary devices. After that with each read I try to look for more hidden meanings. I read it from all the different viewpoints I can think of to see what evidence there is for it. Once I have found what I think is the best fitting meaning I try to pinpoint the parts that fit that view. As a reader I am very similar to myself in that I am very into the details and very tactical about how I look at the meaning of something. When reading something I take steps in looking at it much like I did when reading Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”.
The first literary quality that gives insight to the meaning of the poem is imagery. The phrase “don’t cross my village wall” is seen in the first stanza; this gives the image of someone crossing a line in which the speaker does not want to be crossed. Then in the second stanza the speaker says, “don’t cross my fence”(LXXVI.10), which again gives the image of someone crossing a line. In the third stanza the phrase, “don’t cross into my garden”(LXXVI.18)
Both authors explore the progressive attitudes and how these were received during the time period of both Fitzgerald and Robert. Frost presents this idea in the poem, ‘Mending Wall’. The poem is about two neighbours who every year go to the end of the garden to meet and build a wall together. However, one neighbour is confused as why there needs to be a wall as there is nothing that needs to be divided or prevented from escaping or entering. This neighbour begins to challenge the other neighbour, ‘why do they make good neighbours?’
To quote Ben Jonson,” Weigh the meaning and look not at the words” to put this simply he means do not merely look at what is written literally because often what one is reading is only half of what the author has written. Some authors compose their works, giving the world a thrilling or informative story on the surface, but in actuality their real purpose in writing them is the hidden meanings within or underneath the stories which only those who are truly paying attention will notice and understand. Zone off for just a second and whole world could be missed. Cousteau’s work “How to Swim with Sharks: A Primer” may seem to the inexperienced or uninterested reader an ordinary guide to swimming with sharks, but any who delve deeper will notice
Over the winter the wall has fallen victim to both hunters and the frozen ground and, therefore, contains gaps that must be filled.In the poem the narrator questions the sense of even mending the wall . He concludes that neither of the farms contain animals, only trees, which would be enough of a boundary. There is no physical need for the wall, so why go through the trouble of fixing it every year for no apparent reason. Although the narrator is right the ignorant neighbor insists that they mend the wall by saying "Good fences make good neighbors."(Frost) The neighbor repeats this saying although he doesn't know why the wall is necessary nor does he know why it will make them better neighbors . Frost is criticizing the ignorance of the neighbor here. Mending Wall, although it doesn't appear it on the surface, almost parallels to a popular Pink Floyd song, Another Brick in the Wall.
"Mending Wall" is a poem written by the poet Robert Frost. The poem describes two neighbors who repair a fence between their estates. It is, however, obvious that this situation is a metaphor for the relationship between two people. The wall is the manifestation of the emotional barricade that separates them. In this situation the "I" voice wants to tear down this barricade while his "neighbor" wants to keep it.
It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people make physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where neighbor with pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall, ?Something there is that doesn?t reflect love a wall? this reflects that nature itself does not like separation. The "something" referring to the intangible sense of social interaction. Furthermore "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it" refers to Frost or to the author. Although the narrator does not want the wall, ironically, the mending of the wall brings the neighbors together and literally builds their friendship. An additional irony of the poem is that the only time these two neighbors sees each other is when they both mend the wall. The narrator sees the stubbornness in his neighbor, and uses the simile 'like an old-stone savage' to compare him to a stone-age man who 'moves in darkness', that is, set in his ways, and who is unlikely to change his views.
The poem itself is a technique Robert Frost uses to convey his ideas. Behind the literal representation of building walls, there is a deeper metaphoric meaning, which reflects people's attitudes towards others. It reflects the social barriers people build, to provide a sense of personal security and comfort, in the belief that barriers are a source of protection, which will make people ...
Clearly, he is a casual sort. He broaches no difficult subjects, nor does he insist on talking about himself; yet Frost is at his best in a sentence like this. Through the language and rhythm of the lines we gain a faint but unmistakable sense of the poem's conflict. Like the "frozen-ground-swell," it gathers strength while lying buried beneath the denotative surface of the poem. From the start, we suspect that the speaker has more sympathy than he admits for whatever it is "that doesn't love a wall."
The theme of the poem is about two neighbours who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating estates, it also acts as a barrier in the neighbours' friendship, separating them. For the neighbour with the pine trees, the wall is of great significance, as it provides a sense of security and privacy. He believes that although two people can still be friendly neighbours, some form of barrier is needed to separate them and 'wall in' the personal space and privacy of the individual. This is shown through his repeated saying, 'good fences make good neighbours' (line 27). The neighbour's property is a representation of his privacy and the wall acts as a barrier against intrusion.
"Mending Wall"' is the opening poem of Frost's North of Boston. One of the dominating moods of this volume, forcefully established in such important poems as "The Death of the Hired Man," "Home Burial, " "The Black Cottage," and "A Servant to Servants," and carried through some of the minor pieces, flows from the tension of having to maintain balance at the precipitous edge of hysteria. With "The Mountain" and with "A Hundred Collars," "Mending Wall" stands opposed to such visions of human existence; more precisely put, to existences that are fashioned by the neurotic visions of central characters like the wife in "Home Burial," the servant in "A Servant to Servants." "Mending Wall" dramatizes the redemptive imagination in its playful phase, guided surely and confidently by a man who has his world under full control, who in his serenity is riding his realities, not being shocked by them into traumatic response. The place of "Mending Wall" in the structure of North of Boston suggests, in its sharp contrasts to the dark tones of some of the major poems in the volume, the psychological necessities of sustaining supreme fictions.
Frost begins the poem by relating the damage that has been inflicted upon the wall. The stunning image of the force "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it and spills the upper boulders in the sun, and makes gaps even two can pass abreast" shows us that something natural, beautiful, and perhaps divine is taking place (2-4). From the very beginning he suggests that living without the wall is something positive. As the poem continues, we are introduced to two farmers engaged in the annual task of making repairs to the stone wall which separates their properties. In lines 14-17, Frost gives us the description of the neighbors meeting to walk the line, each picking up and r...
The poem “Mending Wall” begins by the narrator telling is that there is a wall that is constantly being taken down by nature, and the narrator and his neighbor have to keep re-building it. But as the poem progresses, the narrator becomes unsure with himself, and begins to say that there is a wall “There where it is we do not need the wall” (23). He starts to question why a wall is there, knowing that he can never get across it to his neighbor. As the poem keeps progressing, he learns that the wall is there because of his neighbors tradition from his father, and he ends up saying “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall that wants it down (35), and he is talking about himself. In the progression of this poem, we see the narrator’s character change from someone who is persistent to someone who has hatred for what he is doing. He becomes more aware, having an epiphany, learning that there is truly no need for a wall, and it is only there because his neighbor is following his father’s tradition that requires him to keep the wall up. Through this characterization, we see that by only one side having hatred for the other, it can cause a division between them, because one person disagrees with the other. Through this poem, we see many character changes amongst the narrator, but one character that stays the same
When a wall is encountered literally and physically, there are many different ways in which a person can react to the situation. One group of people would generally just find a way over or around the obstacle. While some other people might pursue a way directly through the wall. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they both exist as outcomes to the same dilemma. The basic wall has been around with humans for as long as the discovery of masonry has been around. Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall is one such example of how a wall can have conflicting properties of human interaction. The neighbor in the poem says that “fences make good neighbors” and that the two neighbors involved with the wall rebuild it each spring and they enjoy fixing the wall with each other. The poem just helps illustrate that walls are an important factor in human activities. Walls are not limited to any specific culture or region and still they continue to be built over time.
Robert Frosts’ 1914, “Mending Wall” explores the effect of a narrow mindset on an individual. This is evident throughout the poem through Frost’s repetition of the adage “Good fences make good neighbours”, given by his “father” explicitly implies that the “neighbour” is not discovering anything new as he sticks to the old traditions. This is paradoxically contrasted with the first line of the poem, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”. The “wall” is a representative of manmade barriers which nature will ultimately bring down. This implies that the consequences of discovery for the persona are challenged due to the values the persona and the neighbour share.
In the “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, the speaker agrees to rebuild the wall every time it falls down, out of a sense of motivation, driven by tradition, and a desire to maintain a relationship with his neighbor. Frost’s illustration of the shared experience and interaction between the two neighbors solidifies the opinion that the speaker’s actions are influenced by their need to bond with the neighbor while also continuing the custom of mending the wall. The speaker initiates the meeting each year to repair the wall as supported by the text, “I let my neighbor know… And on a day we meet ” (Frost 220).