Mending Wall Robert Frost

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Mending WallRobert Frost
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Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And
makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work
of hunters is another thing 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. 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.
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To 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 'Stay
where you are until our backs are turned!' We
wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh,
just another kind of out-door game, One on a
side. It comes to little more 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, 'Good fences make good
neighbors'. Spring is the mischief in me, and I
wonder If I could put a notion in his head
'Why do they make good neighbors?
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Isn't it Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows. Before I built a
wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or
walling out, And to whom I was like to give
offence. Something there is that doesn't love a
wall, That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves'
to him, But it's not elves exactly, and I'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 savage armed. 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's saying, And he likes
having thought of it so well He says again,
"Good fences make good neighbors.
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Speaker feels there is something living, natural
thing which does not like walls and causes them
to fall down Something sense of mystery,
cannot be rationalised
Water in ground freezes, expands and causes the
ground to swell Compound noun describes the
process Nature appears contemptuous of mans
efforts
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And
makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The ground swells under the wall and causes the
boulders (dry stone wall) to collapse Spillsin
the sun sense of abandon and generosity vs the
meanness and pettiness of man who restricts and
builds walls
The missing boulders form gaps in the wall that
are big enough for two people to walk through
side-by-side Speaker approves of this allows
people to communicate rather than set up
divisions between them
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(No Transcript)
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Sometimes he can see that hunters have broken the
wall down
The work of hunters is another thing 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.
The speakers respect for nature is obvious in
his attitude towards the hunter and the dogs
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The gaps he finds most interesting are those that
appear mysteriously, for which there appears to
be no rational cause This adds to the sense of
mystery introduced in line 1
Seems to be a regular, seasonal job that
happens once a year

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
neighbour know beyond the hill
beyond the hill stresses distance the wall
has not been erected to ensure privacy
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IRONY The only time they meet is when they
repair the wall that keeps them separate
Stresses the repetitive cycle man is subjected
to the seasonal shifts also suggests the
inevitability of the wall collapsing and having
to be rebuilt on an annual basis
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.
Repairing of the wall sense of separation and
division each keeps to his own side of the wall
do not cross over onto the others property
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Repetition of each stresses their separateness
and also the neighbours somewhat childish and
absurd attitude if the stone is on your side
then you pick it up
METAPHOR
To 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 'Stay
where you are until our backs are turned!'
Different shapes and sizes
METAPHOR
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We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game, One on
a side. It comes to little more
Division separateness
Narrators attitude is playful he cannot take
it seriously and does not consider it important
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Neighbours negative attitude good social
relationships cannot exist when men are separated
from one another
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, 'Good
fences make good neighbours'.
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Wants to shake up his neighbours attitude see
if he can suggest an alternative view or another
way of looking at the wall.
Is he implying that the neighbour is
empty-headed?
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I
could put a notion in his head 'Why do they
make good neighbours?
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He cannot see any practical purpose for the wall
no cows to be separated by the wall he
stresses the ABSURDITY of building the wall in
this particular location
Some people are upset by the presence of the wall
e.g. the speaker he feels that he has been
shut out without any real reason

Isn't it Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows. Before I built a
wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or
walling out, And to whom I was like to give
offence. Something there is that doesn't love a
wall, That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves'
to him, But it's not elves exactly, and I'd
rather He said it for himself.
In his mind the wall has to serve some logical
purpose
PUN
His true motives are starting to become clearer
he wants to change the way his neighbour thinks
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE WALL?
Some natural (now supernatural) thing in nature
that does not approve of the presence of the wall
suggests Elves
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SIMILE Neighbour like a caveman Stone
weapon What is he saying about himself in
comparison?
I
see him there Bringing a stone grasped firmly by
the top In each hand, like an old-stone savage
armed. He moves in darkness as it seems to
meNot of woods only and the shade of trees. He
will not go behind his father's saying, And he
likes having thought of it so well He says
again, "Good fences make good neighbors.
FIGURATIVE DARKNESS Unenlightened Has not moved
with the times
He is not prepared to think beyond that which he
has been taught by his father what was good
enough for his father is good enough for him
poem ends with the REPETITION of his fathers
words.
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Presented by

• Lujain Bogary
• Malak Halwani
• Maha Bokhary
• Nadia Khan
• Walaa Al-Kahali