Mending Wall



Mending Wall

One way to approach writing about "Mending Wall" is to recognize that the poem is interrogating the proverbial expression, "Good fences make good neighbors." You might begin simply by asking yourself what the expression means. Focus on each element: What is a fence? What purposes do it serve? How should neighbors interact? What are the barriers, if any, that should exist, between them? What kinds of relationships should we have with the people around us? How does a fence between people make them "good" neighbors?

The imagery of the poem deserves its own focused attention. Central to the poem is the wall, which is both a physical barrier but also a metaphor for physical barriers. The two men fix the wall together but keep it between them all the while. Other imagery is less obvious. Why describe the rocks as "loaves" and "balls," for example, Why does the speaker tell us "we wear our fingers rough with handling them"? Why are cows the example the speaker offers as a reason why a fence might be worth having? Why does the speaker stop to observe his neighbor and describe the way he carries "a stone grasped firmly by the top / In each hand"? How does the realism Frost achieves affect the reader's experience of the poem? What metaphors might, these images contain?

Mending Wall explores some of the key themes that define other Frost poems, but the work also gives us the chance to explore some ideas less common in his poetry. The wall as a physical entity with a specific, defined function suggests issues of ownership and property rights. In addition, the literal wall in the poem becomes a symbol for figurative walls—the various divisions, concrete or abstract, that divide individuals. Frost's meditation raises many potential ...