Tone Of Mending Wall

The Captivating Tone of “Mending Wall” There are several essential devices in a poem that can elevate its style, form, and meaning. One of the most prominent poetic devices is the use of tone, which can provide the poem with substance, character, and interest. A perfect example of tone is the poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost. Throughout the poem, Frost conveys the speaker’s attitudes in many ways, such as word choice, imagery, and how he speaks. “Mending Wall” follows the brief story of a man, his neighbor, and a wall between them. Each year, the man and his neighbor repair a stone wall that separates their property. The man doesn’t quite understand why the stone wall is necessary. Therefore, throughout the poem, he tries to convince

This is easily recognizable in a vast number of sentences in the poem, which further defines the tone of the speaker towards the wall and his neighbor. As an example, near the beginning of the poem the speaker describes the appearance of the broken stone wall, “And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast” (Frost 583). He expresses that the gaps which remain from the boulders falling out of the stone wall are large enough that two people can go through at the same time. This represents the speaker noticing the consistent flaws in the stone wall, which leads him to question why the wall is even needed. Another example of imagery is near the end of the poem where the speaker describes his neighbor as they repair the stone wall, “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” (Frost 584). This illustrates the speaker’s view of his neighbor, comparing his appearance and his rationality to an “old-stone savage” that “moves in darkness”. In addition, this demonstrates the speaker’s frustration and anger with his neighbor, implying that his neighbor’s mentality is stuck in the past, incapable of thinking