Mending Wall is a poem by Robert Frost.
Robert Frost: Robert Frost was a leading American poet of the 19th & 20th centuries who is well known for his use of imagery in poetry. He dabbled with both farming and was also an English teacher but was always convinced that his real calling was to be a poet. He is one of the most famous and influential poets in American history. He is not known as an experimental poet but rather he uses traditional methods in describing the world he sees it. He has also received four Pulitzer prizes for poetry in his lifetime. His simple style of writing and constant attention to nature makes his poem unique. His poems have captivated thousands and are still a delight to read and study for the profound themes related to social and personal issues. By the 1920's ge was the most celebrated poet in America and with each new book including 'New Hampshire ', 'A further range', 'Steeple Bush', and ' In the Clearing', his fame and honors increased.
Mending Wall is a poem composed by Robert Frost. We can relate this poem to our everyday life also. We can also relate it to our society that is happening now. This poem is the opening poem of the second collection of Poetry entitled 'North of Boston' that was published in 1914. Mending Wall narrates a story that is based on New. Here we have a story about a fence between the speaker of the poem and his neighbor where they rebuilt that wall every spring. This happens in New. Both of them are farmers. This poem has 45 lines in total but it is not divided into stanzas. It is written in blank verse which means it is written in poetic meter but it is not rhymed. The lines we find in this poem are not be rhyming.
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From the opening line of the poem, we get to know that the poet speculates that there must be something that does not like the wall in that vicinity or in that area. So it keeps on breaking down. The speaker even has the answer for this breaking down of walls that perhaps it could be the water beneath the ground that is frozen and this results in ice. So this ice slowly expands and cracks which makes the boulders on top of the wall fall down. This cracks as it expands it becomes so wide that two people can pass abreast which means two people can walk side by side in the same direction. So we can see that the crack that is being caused by the ice is wide enough for two persons to walk side by side at the same time. In the following lines, we can see that the speaker does not agree with the idea that it must be the work of the hunters that must have broken the wall because he believes that the hunters, were the ones who rearrange the stones or boulders to let the rabbit come out of the holes and then allow the yelping dogs to catch the rabbits. So he does not agree with the idea that the hunters are responsible for breaking down of the wall. So therefore the gaps that have not appeared on the wall have been damaged by something or someone that we never know because we never heard or saw them. Nobody knows about it who has broken down the wall.
In lines 12 and following we can see that the neighbor lives on the other side of the hill and there is this wall that divides the neighbor and the speaker. So what happens is once a year during springtime the speaker will let the neighbor know about the damage. So that they can fix a date to fix the wall. On that fixed date both the speaker and the neighbour start surveying the walls. They will survey their own sites only, they will not include or interfere with their neighbors' damage. After the survey, they are mending the wall. It is difficult because the stones they are using to mend those walls were of different sizes and shapes. Here if we are two mend walls or fences we use bricks that have got two equal sides so it is easier for us to build those walls because the stones are almost equal shapes here in the poem the problem is the stones which they are using are not in equal shape so it is difficult for them to hold the stones and rebuilt it. At that moment they need magic so that they could put the stone in their places.
In line 20 and following we see that the speaker and the neighbor mending their walls, their hands become hard and rough because they have been handling the stone. As they are repairing the wall it felt like they are playing some outdoor game. Outdoor games because they are standing or doing the work in their own sites only their own position, they are not included in each other's site. So it appeared or it looks like they were playing some outdoor game where there is one opponent on each team.
In Lines 24 and the followings, line 24 is very interesting and very humorous. Humourous because if we go through this line it will make us laugh. Here we have the speaker who owns apple orchard art and on the other side the neighbor who owns pine trees. The Neighbour hoped that the pine trees will not intrude and then eat away the leaves or the fruits of the apple tree. Likewise, the speaker knows that this is not going to happen, so he is trying to tell the neighbor that his apple orchard is not going to trespass over his land and then eat away the fruits of his pines. But the neighbor was never convinced. He is not ready to change his mind. He always says that good fences make good neighbors. That is the conclusion that the neighbor will always have. The speaker was very sure that the neighbor was never gonna change his mind but during springtime, he became very mischievous that despite knowing the neighbor will not change his mind he will tell him not to build or repair the wall. The neighbor's logic was good fences make good neighbors and so he want to keep his word straight that's why the speaker was not able convenience him in whatever way he tries.
In Lines 30 and the following, we can see that the speakers want to know how why good fences make good neighbors. Because they both have no cows that destroys one's property so they don't need the wall. The speaker questions himself how come we need this wall? The speaker again speculates that the wall must have been brought down by the elves. When they repaired the walls, the speaker noticed that the neighbor looks like an old stone savage armed with stones and his weapons were those stones which they were for rebuilding the walls.
In Lines 41 and the Following, the speaker feels that the neighbor has some kinship with darkness which means a relationship or Connection with darkness. Darkness came from his striking on the idea that his father gave him, good fences make good neighbors.
This poem exposed our today's society's Picture. In the poem, we can analyze that, there is no need for that wall but the neighbor didn't agree with that. He sticks to his words. Similarly today in our society we also sometimes
create prohibitions where we don't need them. In the poem, the neighbor didn't agree because his ancestors told him that good fences make good neighbors. In our society, we create barriers between people, religions, cast, groups, etc. For example, there is a huge gap between one religion's followers to another religion's followers. Sometimes parents create the seeds of barriers in their child's mind as the neighbor's father did.
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