mending wall

A detailed Summary of mending wall

Robert Frost was inspired to write Mending Wall after talking with one of his farming friend Napoleon Guay. He learned from talking with his neighbor that writing in the tones of real life is an important factor in his poetic form (Liu,Tam). Henry David Thoreau once stated that, "A true account of the actual is the purest poetry." Another factor that might have played a role in inspiring Frost to write this poem was his experience of living on a farm as a small boy. Mending Wall was published in 1915 along with a collection of Frost's poems in North of Boston.

Nature dissolves the barriers that humanity erects.

The purpose of the wall in this poem was to isolate one's personality and privacy. In line one and thirty-five, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall" reveals that nature has no boundaries, and because it, "doesn't love the wall," nature attempts destroy that boundary to bring humanity and the environment together in a harmonious bond. Nature has made, "... gaps even two can pass abreast," shows how nature has made a hole big enough for one person to walk across, and towards another person's property to talk. But, it also shows how humans are still

The youth wishes to understand the purpose of the wall, and uses question words to support his curiosity. For instance, when the word "why," is italicized in line 30 it emphasizes his questioning of the importance of the wall. He challenges the neighbor to give a better answer then, "Good fences make good neighbors," but he doesn't receive one. Instead he accepts this to an extent and is still contemplating ways to how he can, "If I could put a notion in his head...(line 29)"

Narrative and explanations (lines 1-22)

There are two inanimate objects in the poems that are given human characteristics. The first is nature, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, / that send the frozen ground-swell under it/ and spills the upper-boulder in the sun (line1-3)." That "something" the youth is referring to is nature, and it is trying to bring down the wall because like nature, the wall is gradually destroying something too. That something is the relationship between the two characters, because before the wall was being put together, the youth in lines 1-22 refers to himself and the old man as "we" and "us." But, as the wall takes it's shape once more, it destroys the bond formed earlier in the poem and the youth is now getting frustrated and referring to the old man as an, "old-stone savage armed."

The metaphors in this poem are very abstract because the reader has to look very hard in order to get them. In line 17, the youth is talking about how the wall has dropped bricks the shape of, "loaves and balls." What the youth is actually commenting on indirectly is how the loaf is like the old man: square, and doesn't change or move very much. And the ball is himself, always moving around and rolling into situations where he gets trapped by a square object. Another metaphor in the poem was the youth saying that mending that wall was, "Oh, just another outdoor game." The youth doesn't think much of the wall and is playing along with the old man since it is the only time of the year they meet one another.

The most noticeable assonance Frost uses is through the youth. He uses the words, "why," "where," "for whom," and "what" to ask the questions that are bothering him. These words are of a curious tone, but they never get answered in till the end; which was a superficial one anyway. Other assonance Frost uses in the poem is his use for them when he needs to separate language i.e. "Gaps-wall," "walling in or walling out," "never get across," and "one on a side," are perfect examples of how he utilizes assonance in the poem.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3047
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English