Mending wall โ€“ Summary, Appreciation and Questions

Mending wall By Robert Frost

Introduction: The poem Mending Wall by Robert Frost was first published in 1914. The poem is about two neighbours who meet each year in Spring to mend the stone wall dividing their fields. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising wall and other which make a protest against this idea. The central idea of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and we should demolish all kinds of walls, whether they are political, religious, ideological or national. This poem was written when World War One was just beginning in 1914, and this poem represents the hostility of the time.

About The Poet

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Daffodils Critical Appreciation In ...
Daffodils Critical Appreciation In 500 Words

Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) is one of the most prominent 20th-century American poets. He has earned worldwide respect and fame. Frost won more awards than any other contemporary American literary figure. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times. More than forty colleges and universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, have given him honorary degrees.

Summary of Mending Wall

The poem, โ€œMending Wallโ€ is a beautiful poem written by Robert Lee Frost. The speaker in the poem, the poet himself, and his neighbour, get together every spring to repair the stone wall between their respective properties. Spring is the season when the damages caused by winter have to be repaired. The neighbours meet and walk along the two sides of the wall repairing the damage as they move.

In the beginning, the speaker states that, something there is that doesnโ€™t love a wall. Walls have many enemies. Frost โ€“ heave breaks them. Hunters pull them down to help their dogs to chase rabbits. The spirit of spring has made the poet slightly mischievous. A suggestion of some mysterious force in nature at work against walls and boundaries is skilfully expressed in such a line as โ€œ Something there is that doesnโ€™t love a wallโ€ or โ€œI could say โ€˜elvesโ€™ to him.โ€ This something seems to include the frost โ€“ heave, hunters and elves.

The poet writes of inanimate objects as if they are alive. and therefore he addresses the boulders and says,

โ€œStay where you are until our backs are turned.โ€ Similarly of apple trees, he says,
โ€œMy apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines, I tell himโ€.

The neighbour has a closed mind, as he sticks to his fatherโ€™s maxim that good fences make good neighbours.

Appreciation

This poem was first published in 1914, in the volume, North of Boston. It is a dramatic monologue. The poem is written in colloquial and dramatic style. The speaker asks questions and then himself answers them. The poet has created the casual and informal effect of conversation. The speaker is young, new-fashioned and has a progressive attitude. The neighbour is an old, conservative farmer.

Starting from the building of a broken boundary wall between his estate and that of the neighbour, Frost goes on to reflect about physical and figurative walls between individuals, families, races and nations.

While mending the wall, the poet suggested that the wall was unnecessary. According to the poet, heavy frost, hunters and elves do not like walls and they bring them down. Thus Nature, human beings and supernatural beings hate walls. After all, his apple trees could not eat his neighboursโ€™ pine cones. Fences may be needed if there are cows with them. But that is not the case. The poet gives both sides of the argument for and against walls. The poet felt like arguing further. But the neighbour stuck to his view which was his fatherโ€™s before him.

He, therefore, repeatedly utters,

โ€œGood fences make good neighbours.โ€

But the poet is of the opposite opinion, as he points out:

โ€œThere where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchardโ€.

Thus the poem portrays a clash between these two points of view. The wall symbolises all kinds of man-made barriers. The wall suggests the division between nations, classes, racial and religious groups.

The speaker describes his neighbour as an โ€˜old-stone savage.โ€™ His views about the necessity for walls show that his mind was also in darkness. He could not think of breaking walls between men to maintain universal brotherhood. The poem ends with his utterance/maxim.

Theme

โ€œGood fences make good neighbours.โ€ This is the central theme of the poem. The poet leaves it to the reader to judge whether his neighbour is right in taking view that barriers such as walls help us to understand and respect one another. Thus โ€œMending wallโ€ is a symbolic interpretation of the modern situation. We would like that there should be no barriers between men, between states, but we also love to live within four walls, within self โ€“ limitations.

Explain with Reference to the Context:

Stanza โ€“ 1

Something there is that does not love a wall

That sends the frozen ground swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And make gaps even two can pass abreast

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric or a monologue. This poem presents sharp contrasts between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising a wall and the other which make a protest against this idea. Finally, this poem suggests that walls are unnecessary and we should demolish all kinds of walls whether they are social, political, ideological, religious or national walls. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and spiritual darkness.

Explanation

The Poet does not like the idea of raising a wall. He says that there is perhaps some mysterious power that does not love a wall. This mysterious power makes the ground swell under it. As a result of it, the stones placed on the upper side of wall fall on the ground and make a large gap. Through this gap, two men can pass at the same time. What the poet tries to say is that it is not only the poet who does not like a wall but also some mysterious force.

Stanza โ€“ 2

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs.

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. The Poem contains the idea that walls are unnecessary we should demolish all kinds of walls whether they are social, political, ideological, religious or national. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and spiritual darkness.

Explanation

The Poet says that there is something, perhaps some natural forces, that does not love a wall. The other things are hunter. The hunters also pull down the stones of the wall. Hunters chasing rabbits demolish a part of the wall to satisfy their dogs that want to get at the rabbit that burrowed its way under the wall to escape from dogs. In this process, they do not leave even a single stone and the poet has to mend the entire wall.

Stanza โ€“ 3

The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising wall and other which make a protest against this idea. The central idea of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and we should demolish all kinds of walls, whether they are political, religious, ideological or national.

Explanation

The Poet says that every year some portion of the wall falls down and that creates a gap in it. But no one has seen or heard the gaps being made. The onset of spring is the mending time of the wall. When the poet went there in the spring he found the gap in the wall. The poet informs his neighbour about all this who lives beyond the hill. They fix a day to mend the wall, each keeps to his side of wall. They walk along the lines of wall while mending it. The Poet says that there is a wall between man and man and it is man who makes it.

Stanza โ€“ 4

โ€œTo each the boulders that have fallen to each

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance

โ€˜Stay where you are until our backs are turned!โ€™

We wear our fingers rough with handling them

Oh, just another kind of outdoor game

One on a side. It comes to little more:โ€

Reference to Context

READ ALSO:ย  What Kind of Poetry is "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"?

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising a wall and other which make a protest against this idea of raising a wall. The final view emerging out of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and darkness of heart. We should demolish all kinds of wall whether they are political, religious, ideological or national.

Explanation

The Poet and his neighbour prepare to mend the wall that is between their farms. They decide to set those stones that have fallen to each otherโ€™s side. The Poet says that the stones are of different size. Some of them are flat like loaves of bread and some of them are round like balls. It is difficult to balance these stones. The Poet says mockingly that they have to use magic to balance them. After placing the stone in its position they ask the stones to stay there until the backs of both are turned. The Poet says that they make their fingers rough with handing stones. He says that this mending wall is just like an outdoor game. The only difference is that there is only one player on each side.

Stanza โ€“ 5

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, โ€˜Good fences make good neighbors.โ€™

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising a wall and the other which make a protest against this idea. The final view emerging out of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and darkness of heart. We should demolish all kinds of wall whether they are political, religious, ideological or national.

Explanation

The poet says that there is no need of a wall between his farm and that of his neighbourโ€™s. He grows apples in his orchard and his neighbours have pine trees. The poet humorously says to his neighbour that his apple trees will never get across to eat cones under his pine. At this, the poetโ€™s neighbour repeats his old saying that good fences make a good neighbour. It suggests how human behaviour is mechanical, conventional, parrot-like. It is a stereotyped response.

Stanza โ€“ 6

โ€œspring is the mischief in me and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head:

Why do they make good neighbours? Isnโ€™t it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall Iโ€™d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out.

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Robert Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue based on a small incident. The poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising walls and other which makes a protest against this idea. The final view emerging out of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and darkness of heart. We should demolish all kinds of walls.

Explanation

The Poet says that spring has made him a little mysterious. The Poet wonders how he could be able to make his neighbour understand his point of view. He wants to ask his neighbour why good fences make a good neighbour. Wall is needed where there are cows. But neither he nor the poet has cows. There is no need of a wall between their farms. The Poet wants to know why the wall should be maintained. Before building the wall he wants to ask a question as to what he was walling in or walling out. Who will be offended if they do not have a wall? What the poet here tries to say is that the Wall is an unnecessary thing.

Stanza โ€“ 7

โ€œSomething there is that doesnโ€™t love a wall,

Thatโ€™s wants it downโ€ I could say โ€œElvesโ€ to him,

But itโ€™s not elves exactly and Iโ€™d rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone strange armed.โ€

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising a wall and the other of the poet himself which makes a protest against this idea. The final view emerging out of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. Walls are a symbol of savage thinking and darkness of heart. We should demolish all kinds of walls. The poem is a crusade against everything that makes us forget our common bond of humanity.

Explanation

The poet says that there is something in nature that does not love a wall and wants to bring it down. Then the poet imagines what it could be. He thinks it is perhaps elves. But it could not be elves exactly. He wants that his neighbour could say such thing to himself. He should also give up the idea of raising a wall. Then, the poet sees his neighbour bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top in each hand. The Poet ironically comments that he is looking like a stone age savage. These lines bring out the idea that man is often a prisoner of tradition. He follows old concepts without adjusting them to grand realities.

Stanza โ€“ 8

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 saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, โ€œGood fences make good neighbourโ€.

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Frostโ€™s poem โ€œMending Wallโ€. It is a dramatic lyric and a monologue. This poem presents a sharp contrast between two views, the one which advocates the idea of raising walls and other which condemns this idea. The final view emerging out of the poem is that walls are unnecessary. They are barriers between man and man. They are a symbol of savage thinking, so we should demolish all kinds of walls. The poem is a crusade against everything that makes us forget our common bond of humanity.

Explanation

The Poet says that his neighbour is not like him. He (the neighbour) believes in the idea of raising a wall between man and man. The poet says that his neighbour is moving in darkness. But it is not the darkness of woods or of the shade of trees, it is the darkness of heart and mind. His neighbour still sticks to traditional concepts. He does not want to follow the saying of his father. He thinks that the ideas of his ancestors are very good. He says again that good fences make a good neighbour. This repetition of line by the neighbour, again and again, shows that human behaviour is parrot-like. It is a blind, senseless observance of old concepts. This repetition of line again stresses the central idea of the poem that all walls are unnecessary.

Question-Answer (Essay Type)

Q.1. According to the speaker, there is no need for a wall between the two farms. Why?

Ans.: โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™ is a poem based on a small incident. The poet narrates his annual experience with his neighbour whose farm of pine trees adjoins the poetโ€™s apple orchard. The poet says that every year some portion of the wall falls down. Sometimes, the cause is known and sometimes it is not known. The Poet and his neighbour meet every year and repair the wall. This is repeated in a never-ending process. The opening line of the poem brings out the idea that all walls are unnatural, as they divide. The Poet says that it is not only he who does not love a wall but perhaps there is some mysterious force that also does not like the idea of the raising of a wall. The force makes the groundswell under the wall. As a result of it every year some portion of the wall falls down. The Poet says that there is no need of walls between two farms. He stresses this idea by arguing that he grows apple in his orchard and his neighbour has all pine trees. Trees can not intrude, trespass as cows can. He says that his apple trees will never move over to his farm to eat the cones under his pines. The Poet says that there may be a need of walls if either of them cows. Cows could go into other manโ€™s field and can spoil his crops. But neither of them has cows. So, there is no need of any wall between both farms. But the poetโ€™s neighbour does not agree with his idea. He says only that good fences make good neighbours. It is a stereotyped response. The neighbour refuses to examine the true purpose of his fatherโ€™s saying. He is so conventional that he does not even want to listen to why there is no need of a wall. He just wants to stick to old convention. The poet wants the wall to be demolished. Wall is a symbol of every kind of barrier that man has created between each other. The Poem brings out the idea that all walls are unnecessary and we should demolish them.

Q. 2. Explain โ€˜Good fences make good neighboursโ€™ and something there is that does not love a wallโ€™.

Ans.: The poem โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™ presents a clash between two viewpoints. The one is that โ€˜good fences make good neighbourโ€™ and the other is there is something that does not love a wallโ€™. The first view is expressed by the poetโ€™s neighbour. The Poet has an orchard of apples. His neighbour has a farms of pines. There is a wall between them. But every year, some portion of the wall falls down. Every year at the beginning of spring season they meet and mend the wall. But the poet says that there is no need of a wall between two farms. Poet grows apples and his neighbour has pines. Trees cannot intrude, trees cannot trees pass as animals can. He says that there could be a need of wall only if they had cows or other animals. But neither he nor his neighbour has cows. So there is no need of a wall between their farms. The Poet wants his neighbour to understand his point of view but the latter repeats, again and again, his fatherโ€™s saying: โ€˜Good fences make good neighbourโ€™. His behaviour is to some extent, parrot-like. He does not want to understand what the poet is saying. His repetition of the same line shows that man is often a prisoner of traditions.

The other viewpoint is held by the poet he says that not only he but there is something in nature that does not love a wall. It is some mysterious power, perhaps God, that makes the wall fall every year. This mysterious power makes the frozen ground swell under it and causes it of fall. The idea behind these lines is that there is no need of a wall. All these walls are man-made. All these are unnatural because they divide. This poem makes a plea to demolish all kinds of walls whether they are religious, racial, political or national. Thus, the poem presents a sharp contrast between the two viewpoints.

Question-Answer (Short Type)

Q.1. Who are the two neighbours in the poem?

Ans.: The two neighbours in the poem are two farmers. One of them is the poet himself. He grows apple in his orchard and his neighbour grows pine. There is a wall that divides these two farms. These two neighbours present a sharp contrast between the two points of view. One view is of the poet who wants to demolish the wall. He does not want to mend the wall because he thinks that wall is a symbol of discrimination as it divides. But his neighbour advocates the idea of raising wall. He says that good fences make good neighbours. Thus, by giving the example of two neighbours the poet brings out the difference between the nature of one man and the other.

Q.2. What is the โ€˜Mending timeโ€™?

Ans.: The onset of spring is the mending time described by the poet for dislodged wall. At the onset of spring, every farmer of New England mends his demolished wall. The Poet himself fixes a date in the spring season to mend the wall. On the fixed date, they mend the wall. He says that spring season fills him with mischief. He feels that there is no need of a wall between them.

Q.3. What are the signs in the poem which show that nature does not love a well?

Ans.: The poet begins the poem with the line: โ€œSomething there is that doesnโ€™t love a wallโ€. What the poet means to say is that there is some mysterious power in nature that does not like raising walls between neighbours. This power makes the ground swell under it. As a result of it, some upper boulders of the wall fall on the ground and create a wide gap. Sometimes, the cause of wall fall is known. It is done by hunters who are after rabbits. But sometimes, it is unknown. Some supernatural force creates a gap in the wall. No one has ever seen them being made. But with the onset of spring, when they meet to mend the wall, they notice these gaps. All these things show that nature doesnโ€™t love a wall.

Q.4. Explain the simile is used in the poem for the tasks of mending the wall?

Ans.: The Poet says that the task of mending a wall is the same as that of an outdoor game in which there are only two players, one on each side. By using this simile, he brings out the idea that there is no need of a wall between the two farms. This process is nothing more than a game especially at a place where wall is useless.

Q.5. What impression do you form of the speaker and why?

Ans.: The speaker is a person who is a lover of humanity. He makes a plea to demolish all kind of barriers. In his view all walls that divide are unnecessary. The speaker says that these walls are not made by God, but by man. Walls are a barrier between man and man. They are a symbol of savage thinking and darkness of heart. The speaker advises us to demolish all kind of walls. By examining his point of view, we can say that the poet is a great lover of humanity.

Q.6. Explain the line, โ€˜He is all pine and I am apple orchardโ€™.

Ans.: The Poet says that he has an apple orchard and his neighbour has a farm of pine trees. There is a wall that divides both these farms. The Poet says that there is no need of wall between their farms. One has grown pine on his side and the other has an apple orchard. Trees cannot trees pass into other manโ€™s farm. He says my apple tree will not get across into his farms to eat the cones under his pines. Trees cannot intrude as cows can, so there is no need of a wall.

Q.7. Give examples of the speakerโ€™s sense of humour.

Ans.: The speaker of the poem has a very good sense of humour. Humorously, he tells that his apple trees will not get across into the neighbourโ€™s to eat the cones under his pine trees. He also gives a humours description of stones. He says that some stones are flat like breads and some are round like balls. He makes fun of his neighbour saying that he looks like an old-stone savage while carrying a big stone.

Very Short Question Answers

1. What, according to the poet, are the causes for walls breaking down?
Answer:- The poet says that there is something in the world that does not love a wall. In winter heavy frost disturbs wall and the stones at the top of the walls are thrown down, and gaps are created. Again, hunters does not like walls. To drive rabbits out of their hiding places the hunters deliberately create gaps in walls. The mischievous elves are also responsible for causing damage to the walls in winter.

2. Give a brief account of the argument about walls between Frost and his neighbour.
Answer:- The wall between Frostโ€™s apple orchard and his neighbourโ€™s pinewood suffers damage during the winter. Next spring, he and his neighbour meet to repair it. Walking along, each on his side of the wall, they replace the fallen stones. Frost says to his neighbour that his apple trees could not eat the pine cones of the latter. Frost feels that repairing the wall is meaningless. But his neighbour replies that good fences make good neighbours. Frost feels like pointing out that neither of them had cows and that is another reason for pulling down the wall. But the neighbour repeats the old maxim which he learnt from his father.

3. Why does Frost say that his neighbour โ€œmoves in darknessโ€?
Answer:- While repairing the wall between their estates Frost suggested to his neighbour that the wall was unnecessary. After all, his apple trees could not eat his neighbourโ€™s pine cones. But the neighbour insisted that good fences make good neighbours. Watching him come up to the wall, carrying a big stone in each hand the poet felt for a moment that he was like a savage armed with weapons of the stone โ€“ age. Then it struck Frost that his neighbourโ€™s savage like appearance was not merely physical. His views about the necessity for walls shows that his mind was also in darkness. He could not think of breaking barriers between men to maintain universal brotherhood.

4. Bring out the significance of the title โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™.
Answer:- When we read the poem superficially, it is merely an account of two New England farmers, one of whom wants to build a boundary wall between their respective properties. According to him โ€œGood fences make good neighboursโ€™. The other, the poet himself, does not consider the fences at all necessary at that particular place. But the poem is not as simple as that. The fence or wall here has s symbolic significance. It also symbolizes national, racial, religious, political and economic barriers which divide man from man and come in the way of mutual understanding and universal brotherhood. โ€˜Mending Wallโ€™ is a symbolic poem in which the poet symbolizes the conflict between the new trend of bringing down barriers between men and nations and the old view that for good neighbourly relations fences and walls are essential.

READ ALSO:ย  To a Shade Summary, Analysis and Question Answers

Short Answer Type Questions

Q. Why did Robert Frost write Mending Wall?
Answer:- โ€œMending Wallโ€ was published in the North of Boston in 1914. The poem speaks of how self-isolation provides a sense of protection, but at the same time prevents personal growth and growth in relationships.

Q. What does the title mending wall mean?
Answer:- The word โ€œmendingโ€ is used as a verb in Mending Wall by Robert Frost. The title refers to the task that the speaker of the poem and his neighbour perform in repairing the wall between their two farms. Each spring brings โ€œmending-time,โ€ so the speaker calls on his neighbour and they meet to mend the wall.

Q. How does the speaker feel about the gaps in the wall?
Answer:โ€“ Since the gaps tend to grow, the speaker seems to believe that there is some aspect in the world โ€œthat doesnโ€™t love a wall. Nature โ€œsends the frozen-ground-swell under itโ€ so that the rocks on top spill off and fall on the earth.

Q. What is the irony in Mending Wall?
Answer:- The greatest irony in the poem โ€œMending Wallโ€ perhaps is that even when the speaker realises that there should be no wall between the neighbours he continues to help build the wall. As the poem progresses, the speaker discusses how all kinds of natural forces, including the land and animals, conspire every winter to knock down the wall.

Q. What is the conflict in Mending Wall?
Answer:- The tension in โ€œMending Wallโ€ grows as the speaker gradually exposes himself as he portrays a native Yankee and responds to the regional spirit he embodies. The opposition between observer and observedโ€” and the tension created by the observerโ€™s awareness of the difference is crucial to the poem.

Q. Does the wall separate the two neighbours or bring them closer together?
Answer:- No, it unites the two neighbours. The wall acted as an instrument to get them together, as they would meet to mend it annually.

Q. What does the wall in the Mending Wall symbolize?
Answer:- The wall in the poemโ€™ Mending Wallโ€™ symbolizes two points of view from two separate persons, one from the speaker and the other from his neighbour. The wall not only serves as a divider in the separation of the estate but also acts as a barrier to friendship and contact

Q. What is the message of the Mending Wall?
Answer:- A generally accepted theme of the poem โ€œThe Mending Wallโ€ concerns the self-imposed obstacles preventing human contact. In the poem, the neighbour of the speaker pointlessly tries to rebuild a wall in spite that the fence is detrimental to their land more than it benefits anyone. Yet the neighbour is still persistent in his maintenance

Q. What does the neighbour say in mending wall?
Answer:- The favourite saying of the neighbour is โ€œgood fences make good neighbours.โ€ The neighbour of the speaker is of the view that neighbour should have fences. He seems to think there should be separation. To prevent confrontation, he would rather stay away from his neighbour. He says againโ€Good fences make good neighbours.โ€

Q. What does something there is that doesnโ€™t love a wall mean?
Answer:- The speaker says โ€œthere is something that doesnโ€™t love a wallโ€ at the very beginning to create an atmosphere of mystery and to refer to someone who is a mysterious entity, person or force attempting to crack the wall. Literally, what this means simply is that nature (the speaker says) doesnโ€™t like walls. He says Nature doesnโ€™t like being hemmed in.

Q. What is the tone of the poem Mending Wall?
Answer:โ€“ Mending wall is written in several tones. The tone is enigmatic at the beginning of the poem,โ€™ something there is that doesnโ€™t love a wallโ€™. Frost then creates a relaxed tone in the lineโ€™ we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us once againโ€™.

Q. How would you describe the poet and his tone in Mending Wall?
Answer:- Mending Wall explains the story of two neighbours exchanging thoughts and talking about the wall that needs to be mended. Not only is the wall literal but it is also metaphorical. People placed barriers between them and others when they didnโ€™t need to. The tone is marked by the narratorโ€™s frustration when he sees the wall broken.

Q. What argument does the speaker give to convince his neighbour that they do not need the wall?
Answer: The speaker speaks that they donโ€™t need a wall because their fields are of two different kinds. The neighbourโ€™s field has pine trees, while the speaker has an apple orchard.

Q. What is ironic about the speaker in Mending Wall for helping to maintain the wall?
Answer:- The speaker in โ€œMending Wallโ€ tries to maintain the wall, but he does not see any point in having a wall. One grows pine trees and the other apple trees, so thereโ€™s no need to divide because, as the speaker says, โ€œMy apples will never get across and eat the cones under his pines.โ€

Q. Who initiates the mending of the wall?
Answer:-The speaker of the poem is the one who initiates the mending of the wall. As the poem begins the narrator contemplates the fact that there is something mysterious that just doesnโ€™t want walls to exist.

Q. How do the hunters damage the wall in mending wall?
Answer:- By knocking down parts of the wall, the hunters kill hiding places for the rabbits, making it easier for their dogs to catch them. Unlike the natural forces of destruction, these hunters are the freezing and thawing of the land, which also damages parts of the wall.

Q. How does the poemโ€™s form relate to its meaning Mending Wall?
Answer:- The form of โ€œMending Wallโ€ by Robert Frost is stichical rather than stanzaic. The word โ€œstichicโ€ means that the poem consists of continuously written lines of equal length rather than divided into different stanzas. The meter of the poem in blank verse. The poem contains a total of 46 lines.

Q. What is the major metaphor in mending wall?
Answer:- The wall is the main metaphor in this poem. It comes down to representing differences among people, things that hold them apart.

Q. Where does the mending wall take place?
Answer:-Like many North of Boston poems, โ€œMending Wallโ€ narrates a tale taken from rural New England. The narrator, a farmer from New England, makes contact with his neighbour in the spring to rebuild the stone wall between their two farms.

Q. Why does the mending of the wall by the speaker and his Neighbour appear to be an outdoor game?
Answer:- The speaker here implies that making a wall isnโ€™t natural; after all, the only man constructs boundaries. Repairing this wall is but a โ€œkind of outdoor gameโ€ for him and his neighbour that they play annually as they seek to balance the rocks from either side.

Q. What are the contrasting views presented in the poem Mending Wall?
Answer:- The poem, โ€œMending Wall,โ€ deals with the speaker and his neighbourโ€™s two opposing views. Fraternity and empathy are the two essential factors in living a harmonious life, according to the Poet. He doesnโ€™t like walls that divide from one another.

Q. Who is the speaker in the poem Mending Wall?
Answer:- The poem โ€œMending Wallโ€ is about two rural neighbours who had a wall dividing them. The speaker is the owner of an apple orchard, as the lines read, โ€œHe is all pine and I am an apple orchard.

Q. Why does the poet consider the spring season mischievous?
Answer:- The spring is the mischievous time of year because the gaps in the wall are found during spring. The poem is about two neighbours who have a wall between their land. They have an agreement to meet once a year and maintain the wall, fixing any gaps that have developed in it over the course of the year.

Q. Why does the speaker repeat the following two lines Something there is that doesnโ€™t love a wall Good fences make good neighbours?
Answer:- The lines โ€œsomething there is that doesnโ€™t love a wallโ€ and โ€œgood fences make good neighboursโ€ are repeated. The speaker dislikes having the wall between the two fields. He feels needless, citing the fact that the wall begins to collapse as proof that it should not be there.

Q. Why do the two neighbours continue to repair the wall every spring if they donโ€™t necessarily believe that they should?
Answer:- One reason the neighbours keep mending the wall every year in spring is that they do so to mend and preserve their friendship.

Q. What I was walling in or walling out meaning?
Answer:- As the poet saysโ€™ walling in or walling out,โ€™ he attempts to articulate a dilemma in which he is. He contemplates as he wonders what role the stone wall actually serves between him and his neighbour. He is unsure who he properly blocks or allows.

Discover more from Smart English Notes

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading