Mending Wall Short Paper
Short Paper: “Mending Wall”
a. Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” describes two neighbors who are constructing a wall/fence, which they come together each spring—after all the snow has vanished—to repair. The neighbors do not seem to have a significant relationship to one another, and the speaker of the poem questions the purpose of the wall they are building (“Mending Wall,” Frost).
b. I would say the major theme is that walls build respectable boundaries; however, these walls do not give people a chance to create genuine relationships/friendships unless they are torn down.
c. It is easy to see that Frost includes many metaphors and figurative language within this poem in order to enlighten the major theme. The speaker of the poem questions the wall between his property and his neighbor’s:
My apple trees with never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But there are no cows.
(25-31)
This passage from the poem uses figurative language to convey the theme. It even adds humor in lines 25 and 26 where the speaker uses a metaphor that relates to their lack of relationship. The neighbor only replies that good neighbors are made by good fences. It is evident that each of them has a different definition of what a good neighbor is. The speaker tries to make conversation. The neighbor is far less interested in building a relationship with the speaker. He is more concerned with building the wall between their properties so that they can go back to their secluded lives until next spring. The speaker uses each spring not to necessarily cause trouble with his neighbor (as he states in line 28), but rather disrupt the typical pattern of building the wall. The speaker tries to break down the emotional “wall” his neighbor has built between them. He is
a. Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” describes two neighbors who are constructing a wall/fence, which they come together each spring—after all the snow has vanished—to repair. The neighbors do not seem to have a significant relationship to one another, and the speaker of the poem questions the purpose of the wall they are building (“Mending Wall,” Frost).
b. I would say the major theme is that walls build respectable boundaries; however, these walls do not give people a chance to create genuine relationships/friendships unless they are torn down.
c. It is easy to see that Frost includes many metaphors and figurative language within this poem in order to enlighten the major theme. The speaker of the poem questions the wall between his property and his neighbor’s:
My apple trees with never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But there are no cows.
(25-31)
This passage from the poem uses figurative language to convey the theme. It even adds humor in lines 25 and 26 where the speaker uses a metaphor that relates to their lack of relationship. The neighbor only replies that good neighbors are made by good fences. It is evident that each of them has a different definition of what a good neighbor is. The speaker tries to make conversation. The neighbor is far less interested in building a relationship with the speaker. He is more concerned with building the wall between their properties so that they can go back to their secluded lives until next spring. The speaker uses each spring not to necessarily cause trouble with his neighbor (as he states in line 28), but rather disrupt the typical pattern of building the wall. The speaker tries to break down the emotional “wall” his neighbor has built between them. He is