Mending Wall

INTRODUCTION

"Mending Wall" is a metaphorical poem written in blank verse, published in 1914, by Robert Frost (1874–1963). The poem appeared as the first selection in Frost's second collection of poetry, North of Boston. It is set in the countryside and is about one man questioning why he and his neighbor must rebuild the stone wall dividing their farms each spring.

SUMMARY

The poem literally says that a stone wall separates the speaker's property from his neighbor's. Every year the wall is damaged from harsh weather and hunters. In the spring, the two neighbors walk the wall and jointly make repairs. Also, the speaker sees no reason for keeping the wall because there are no cows to be contained or anything, only apple and pine trees.
The theme is that you won't get to know a person unless you put down your wall or barrier.

The speaker can be characterized as philosophical, amiable, and unconvinced. The philosophical aspect comes from figurative language and diction such as when the speaker says that "spring is the mischief in [him]" (line 28). The speaker is also amiable for he friendly converses with his neighbor about the necessity of the wall. The speaker remains unconvinced about why the neighbor wants to keep the wall. Lastly, the speaker's tone is one that is earful and inquiring for change and an end to the wall.
In the poem itself, Frost creates two distinct characters who have different ideas about what exactly makes a person a good neighbor. The narrator deplores his neighbor’s preoccupation with repairing the wall; he views it as old-fashioned and even archaic. After all, he quips, his apples are not going to invade the property of his neighbor’s pinecones. Moreover, within a land of such of such freedom and discovery, the narrator asks, are such borders necessary to maintain relationships between people? Despite the narrator’s skeptical view of the wall, the neighbor maintains his seemingly “old-fashioned” mentality, responding to each of the narrator’s disgruntled questions and rationalizations with nothing more than the adage: “Good fences make good neighbors.”
As the narrator points out, the very act of mending the wall seems to be in opposition to nature. Every year, stones are dislodged and gaps suddenly appear, all without explanation. Every year, the two neighbors fill the gaps and replace the fallen boulders, only to have parts of the wall fall over again in the coming months. It seems as if nature is attempting to destroy the barriers that man has created on the land, even as man continues to repair the barriers, simply out of habit and tradition.
Ironically, while the narrator seems to begrudge the annual repairing of the wall, Frost subtley points out that the narrator is actually more active than the neighbor. It is the narrator who selects the day for mending and informs his neighbor across the property. Moreover, the narrator himself walks along the wall at other points during the year in order to repair the damage that has been done by local hunters. Despite his skeptical attitude, it seems that the narrator is even more tied to the tradition of wall-mending than his neighbor. Perhaps his skeptical questions and quips can then be read as an attempt to justify his own behavior to himself. While he chooses to present himself as a modern man, far beyond old-fashioned traditions, the narrator is really no different from his neighbor: he too clings to the concept of property and division, of ownership and individuality.
Ultimately, the presence of the wall between the properties does ensure a quality relationship between the two neighbors. By maintaining the division between the properties, the narrator and his neighbor are able to maintain their individuality and personal identity as farmers: one of apple trees, and one of pine trees. Moreover, the annual act of mending the wall also provides an opportunity for the two men to interact and communicate with each other, an event that might not otherwise occur in an isolated rural environment. The act of meeting to repair the wall allows the two men to develop their relationship and the overall community far more than if each maintained their isolation on separate properties.
STRUCTURE

The structure of this poem is that it is blank verse with no stanza breaks, obvious end rhymes, or rhyming patterns. The writer's intention with this form is that it sustains the natural speech and conversational quality of the poem. Also, the poem's physical structure and appearance on the paper resembles a solid stone wall which would explain the reason for no breaks.

LITERARY DEVICES

One of the main literary devices visible in this poem is metaphors and figurative language. Its presence is all throughout the poem from beginning to end. This device functions to display ambiguity and inspire all kinds of interpretations of the text. It also functions as a means of portraying humor, which is discernible when the speaker tells the neighbor "[his] apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines"

VISUAL IMAGERY

Another poetic device that's observable all throughout the poem is visual imagery. It produces a beneficial effect by aiding the speaker in elaborating the details of mending the wall. This can be discerned in line two and three because every winter, "the frozen ground-swell spills the upper boulders in the sun"

DICTION

Another perceivable device is diction. There are at least ten lines throughout this poem that noticeably portray the speaker's intentional word choice. Diction functions to develop ambiguity such that is seen in line one. In addition, it provides emphasis in order to draw and focus the reader's attention on a certain concept or idea.

SYMBOLISM

Furthermore, symbolism of the wall is another device that is visible mostly in the heart of the poem. This stone wall symbolizes a divide between properties that puts up confinements and boundaries. This symbol develops a theme of barrier-building and segregation. The symbol of this wall also functions to develop the character of the neighbor as having an ancient and old fashioned way of thinking, which is noticeable through words such as "spells" and "elves" and an "old-stone savage".

IRONY

Finally, irony is a device that's distinguishable in this poem. It is portrayed in several humorous remarks by the speaker, throughout the poem. The irony of the wall is that the speaker and his neighbor rebuild the wall every spring, only to have it broken again next year. Mending the wall is a pointless act because it will inevitably be damaged once again.