Mending Wall

Hello Friend, I’m back! Today, I’m going to write about Mending Wall, one of my favourite poems [it’s by Robert Frost. He’s hands down my favourite poet]. It’s written in a very simple, unobtrusive fashion, but it actually has some deep themes woven into it. It’s a great sketch of human relationships! It was published in 1914, and has become “one of the most anthologised and analysed poems in modern literature” [according to Wikipedia]. The poem, which is written in blank verse, narrates a story drawn from Rural England [that’s Frost’s charm. His poems reveal his deep and intellectual nature while using simple language and focussing on the lives of seemingly ordinary people]. Now, let’s dive into the poem, shall we?

Summary

The speaker immediately lets us know that “something there is that doesn’t love a wall”, indicating that there is something amiss in the country side; he and his neighbour meet every spring to walk the length of the stone wall that divides their properties, and fix places where the wall has crumbled. The speaker seems to see it as a sort of “game” [this is ironic, because the speaker initially stated that he doesn’t like the wall. A man full of contradictions?]. Shortly after, he begins questioning the need for walls; he grows apples and his neighbour grows pines. Besides, there aren’t any cows around. However, the neighbour responds with this old saying: “Good fences make good neighbours.” It is quite clear to the readers that he does not actually know what it means—he’s just using it because it was something his father used to say. The speaker asks him, “But why do they make good neighbours?” but there is no answer. Of course, the speaker, who is presented as an open-minded and curious person, remains unconvinced and presses the neighbour to widen his thought process and not blindly believe this reasoning. However, the neighbour turns a deaf ear to him. The speaker envisions his neighbour as a man from an out-dated era, a person with a narrow, rigid interpretation of things; however, the neighbour simply repeats, “Good fences make good neighbours”—almost as if he’s convincing himself.

Themes

As I stated before, Mending Wall is an intricate poem dealing with several themes. The main theme is that of human fellowship; this poem deals with the tensions and barriers, both physical and psychological, that exist between humans. The title is a metaphor for these barriers, and the poet is expressing his desire for humans to connect and break free of conventions that are no longer relevant in the Modern Age. Mending Wall explores the contradictions within each person, as “man breaks boundaries and makes boundaries.” Besides, mending the wall serves to separate as well as join the two neighbours, another contradiction. The poem also toys with theme of seasons as cycles of life [understandable as this poem is set in Rural England] and contrasts those cycles with physical as well as language parallelism.  Sadly, these barriers aren’t gonna break down any time soon. We’re already in 2019 and we’ll probably zoom through the year at breakneck speed, but there are so many psychological barriers between humans. And I’m not an exception—I used to be rather judgmental before; I’ve improved a bit now, I guess. I don’t think that old adage holds true in these times. We’ve got enough “fences” as it is.  Of course, barriers have their own importance—one can’t just trust people blindly, and there is something known as “personal space”—but if you don’t even connect with your own race… you get what I’m saying, right?

…This is a little different from other poems I’ve written about, isn’t it? It’s an amazing poem, though it can’t top Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Seasons appear in his poems all the time, though—they just have to seep into his words. Frost had a pretty distinct poetic style, and analysing his poems is a lot of fun—it enhances my knowledge, too!

If you haven’t read this poem, please do so. It’s definitely worth your time and energy!

That’s all for now. See you next time!

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