Mending Wall

by Robert Frost

First published in 1914, "Mending Wall" is a metaphorical poem written in blank verse, by Robert Frost (1874–1963). The poem appeared as the first selection in Frost's second collection of poetry, North of Boston. In this poem, the poet asks why he and his neighbor must rebuild the stone wall dividing their farms each spring.
Other poems in this collection include Death of a Hired Hand, Home Burial, and The Black Cottage.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, School, Short Stories, Poetry Plays, Read For School, Fiction

poetry

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Flinty, moody, plainspoken and deep, Robert Frost was one of America's most popular 20th-century poets. Frost was farming in Derry, New Hampshire when, at the age of 38, he sold the farm, uprooted his family and moved to England, where he devoted himself to his poetry. His first two books of verse, A Boy's Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914), were immediate successes. In 1915 he returned to the United States and continued to write while living in New Hampshire and then Vermont. His pastoral images of apple trees and stone fences -- along with his solitary, man-of-few-words poetic voice -- helped define the modern image of rural New England. Frost's poems include "Mending Wall" ("Good fences make good neighbors"), "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" ("Whose woods these are I think I know"), and perhaps his most famous work, "The Road Not Taken" ("Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- / I took the one less traveled by"). Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times: in 1924, 1931, 1937 and 1943. He also served as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" from 1958-59; that position was renamed as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry (or simply Poet Laureate) in 1986.

Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy... Frost attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard, but did not graduate from either school... Frost preferred traditional rhyme and meter in poetry; his famous dismissal of free verse was, "I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down."

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by Leonard Nimoy - an Art Evans production (YouTube) - how hauntingly pertinent this poem is right now.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This poem is so instructional, thought provoking and settling in a world where everything of importance is being torn down continually.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read 2016

[Emma Muscato · Rating 3 out of 5]

i ship them

[Shecharchoret · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a poem telling the story of two men who meet to repair the wall dividing their property. Narrator begins to question the purpose of the wall unlike his neighbour who is presented as old-fashioned and savage. It is really a good poem overall. One can find the themes like nature and man, tradition and communication. We all set a wall not to reach or not be reached by others but do we question it like Frost?

[ساره ابو سالم · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,...
there where it is we do not need the wall"

[J9 · Rating 3 out of 5]

All about walls. And who doesn't love a wall? And what about walls with holes? What are we keeping out? Or are we trying to keep something in? Physical walls and metaphorical walls abound. A poem for the elves.

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wall has gaps.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one didn't do much for me. Might be a personal issue, but it's true.🙃

[Pamelairozwilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

my interpretation of this poem is about the natural barriers we put up to shut people out...i think it questions certain aspects of human relationships (avoiding those with differences) and what we would do or say had those "wall"s we created inadvertently in our mind & hearts not existed. one of my favorites, memorized it in the 9th grade and can still recite it :D

[Sananab · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was a teenager I thought this was pretty insightful. Now, in my thirties, having my neighbours talk to me is pretty much the worst thing that happens to me on a regular basis.

[emi ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mending Wall
By Robert Frost

“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.
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? 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 offense.
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.’”


https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

[Elizabeth Redmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not normally write reviews of what I read on this site because I never feel like I have the time. However, I feel like I have the time now. I recently began PBS' series on poetry where this poem is featured. Before I could continue with the 25-minute episode on our Robert Frost, I knew I had to pause and come back to read this poem.
Frost is such a tricky writer. You think you are going to find this agrarian New England poetry. He does use that landscape, of course, but it always means more than you would think. There is a sort of mysticism to the landscape in this poem, where nature has power over this wall; and humans have to come back time and time again to push back against nature's influence. This lovely, gentile world that many think Frost reflects (and only ever reflects) has power that comes against mankind - such a power that you walk away from this poem wondering where your walls are. Where are your unnecessary walls that you have to come back time and time again to rebuild? Why do you need to rebuild them, and why do they lack permanence? What is nature, or the natural order of things, trying to tell you?

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 2 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

I like the premise of this poem which is to show us the reader how a fences can create good neighbours. But it also shows us how people can sort of can preserve their long-lasting relations with neighbours by founding such walls. But i feel like this topic is over used now on days.

In this poem Robert Frost gives us a crusty persona in this poem. And for the most part this poem is full of wallops.

The whole story in this poem is about 2 men who meet to repair the wall dividing their property. It was good but at times it felt provoking and settling at the same time.

The narrator in this poem question the purpose of the fence between the neighbours.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Literature II is a class that I am currently taking. During this class we are required to read novels, poems, and short stories that we might not have ever read otherwise. Some are good and some are bad; however, all are legendary and useful for the overall growth of literature everywhere.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.'
'He is all pine and I am apple orchard.'
'I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself.'
'He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.'
love this so muchhhhhhh

[Mansi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"good fences make good neighbours" v personal but i totally relate to this poem. people need boundaries to maintain healthy relationships. the wall was indeed very necessary and helpful in keeping their relationship strongly stable. so moral of the story is that good fences indeed make good neighbours.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short poem about neighbours repairing a wall between their properties and the narrator questions the purpose and validity of the wall. "What was I walling in or walling out?" Discusses our use of boundaries, both literally and figuratively.

[Tessa Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick follow-up poem to ponder after a long read of the border battles between Mexico and the US.

[melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was actually quite nice. Again, I read this for writing class, but I enjoyed the message that it was going for.

[Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He moves in darkness as it seems to me” Scarryyyyyyy

[Vijay Chengappa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arguably the greatest allegory to Human relationships ever. I've lost track to the number of times i've thought 'good fences make good neighbors' when dealing with other sapiens.

[Syd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for school.

[Jinan · Rating 2 out of 5]

''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 offense.''

[sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

fav poem i think

[M Sohaib RUMI · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short poem depicting the conflict between Conservatives & Modernists.

[claire!! · Rating 2 out of 5]

I strongly dislike poems I did not read this by choice.

[Amin Bachari · Rating 5 out of 5]

دیوارها برای جدا کردن انسان ها از همدیگرند!!!

به این شعر پنج ستاره میدم چون من رو حسابی به فکر کردن واداشت.

[Izzys_Internet_Bookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

Honestly really liked this one and I personally interpreted the last line to mean that two people building up a fence have a good foundation which is also teamwork that makes good neighbors

[AMINUL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good wall, good neighbour