Mending Wall
Robert Frost
1 Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
2That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
3And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
4And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
5The work of hunters is another thing:
6 I have come after them and made repair
7 Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
8But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
9 To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
10 No one has seen them made or heard them made,
11 But at spring mending-time we find them there.
12 Ilet my neighbor know beyond the hill;
13 And on a day we meet to walk the line
14And set the wall between us once again.
15 We keep the wall between us as we go.
16 To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
17 And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
18 We have to use a spell to make them balance
19 "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
20 We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
21 Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
22 One on a side. It comes to little more:
23 There where it is we do not need the wall:
24 He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
25 My apple trees will never get across
26 And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
27 He only says,"Good fences make good neighbors.
28 Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
29 If I could put a notion in his head:
30 "Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
31 Where there are cows?
32 But here there are no cows.
33| Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
34 What I was walling in or walling out,
35 And to whom I was like to give offence.
36 Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
37 That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him,
38 But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
30 He said it for himself. I see him there
40 Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
41 In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed
42 He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
43 Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
44. He will not go behind his father's saying.
45. And he likes having thought of it so well
46He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."
Focus on a literary device(the use of symbols) in a particular line/stanza, and consider how it works in the poem.
In the poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost utilizes the symbol of the wall to represent both physical and metaphorical barriers within human relationships. The wall serves as a metaphor for the emotional distance and separation between the two neighbors, illustrating the flawed understanding of the necessity of boundaries.
The lines that particularly exemplify this symbolic representation can be found in stanza two:
"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."
Here, the symbol of the wall is introduced as something that is not universally revered, hinting at an inherent resistance towards separation and division. The frozen-ground-swell represents an unseen force that undermines the stability of the wall, suggesting the natural inclination towards connection and unity. The reference to gaps forming in the wall further highlights the fragility of barriers and the potential for cooperation and understanding.
Through these symbols, Frost encourages the reader to question the purpose and consequences of erecting walls, be it physical or metaphorical. The symbol of the wall becomes a reflection of the innate desire for human connection and the limitations imposed by society's fixation on division. Frost prompts us to reconsider the significance of boundaries and encourages us to explore alternative ways of fostering harmony and understanding between individuals.