Hello, everyone this Thinking Activity on Robert Frost's famous poem task was assigned by Megha Ma'am Department of English MKBU. In this task, we have to write down our views and explain themes, figures of speech, and analyses.
Robert Frost
Introduction of the Robert Frost:-
Robert Frost was an American poet born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. He was the son of William Prescott Frost Jr., a journalist, and Isabelle Moodie. His mother died of complications from childbirth when Frost was 11, and his father died of tuberculosis when Frost was 15, leaving him to be raised by his paternal grandparents. And yet he didn’t belong to any particular movement: unlike his contemporaries William Carlos Williams or Wallace Stevens he was not a modernist, preferring more traditional modes and utilizing a more direct and less obscure poetic language. He famously observed free verse, which was favored by many modernist poets, that was "like playing tennis with the net down".
Frost's early years were marked by personal tragedy, as both of his parents died when he was a young boy. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in Massachusetts and later moved to New Hampshire. He attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University but did not earn a degree from either institution.
Despite his lack of formal education, Frost became a successful poet, publishing his first book of poems, "A Boy's Will," in 1913. He went on to publish several more books of poetry, including "North of Boston," "Mountain Interval," and "New Hampshire," which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1924.
Frost was also a professor of literature and writing and taught at several colleges and universities throughout his career. He was highly respected as a poet and was widely regarded as one of the greatest American poets of the 20th century. He died on January 29, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Work of Robert Frost:-
- The Road Not Taken
- Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
- Fire And Ice
- Nothing Gold Can Stay
- A Question
- Acquainted With The Night
- A Late Walk
- A Minor Bird
- A Prayer In Spring
- The Rose Family
- A Time To Talk
- A Patch Of Old Snow
- A Boundless Moment
- Desert Places
- A Brook In The City
- Asking For Roses
- Birches
- The Silken Tent
- Mending Wall
- Tree at my Window
- Mowing
- Christmas Tree
Here I'm Going to Write on his famous poem 'Mending Wall'.
Mending Wall
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.
This is the video of the Poem 'Mending Wall' in Robert Frost's voice.
Analysis of the poem:-
"Mending Wall" is a poem by Robert Frost that was published in 1914. The poem is about the speaker's annual ritual of repairing a stone wall that separates his property from his neighbor's. The wall serves as a metaphor for the ways in which people divide themselves from one another and create barriers between themselves and others.
The speaker in the poem is somewhat ambivalent about the wall, acknowledging that it serves a purpose in keeping their property separate, but also questioning the need for it and wondering what might be on the other side. He also reflects on the fact that the wall is a shared responsibility between himself and his neighbor, suggesting that it represents not just a physical barrier but also a social one. The wall serves as a metaphor for the ways in which people create divisions and barriers between themselves and others. The speaker reflects on the purpose of the wall and wonders what might be on the other side. He also notes that the wall is a shared responsibility between himself and his neighbor, suggesting that it represents not just a physical barrier but also a social one. The poem can be interpreted as a commentary on the ways in which we create divisions between ourselves and others and the potential consequences of those divisions. It invites the reader to consider the value of such boundaries and the potential for bridging the gaps that separate us.
The poem can be interpreted as a commentary on the ways in which we create divisions between ourselves and others and the potential consequences of those divisions. It invites the reader to consider the value of such boundaries and the potential for bridging the gaps that separate us.
"Mending Wall" by Robert Frost contains several Figures of speech:-
Metaphor:-
1. The 'wall' in the poem is a metaphor for two kinds of barriers- physical and mental. the wall to explore themes of boundaries, isolation, and the need for connection.
2. Stone blocks have been compared to 'loaves' and 'balls.'
Allusion:-
"Mending Wall" has an allusion to elves, the tiny supernatural creatures drawn from folklore and myth.
Personification:-
As the wall is described as having "gaps" that "frost has bit," as if it were alive and capable of feeling pain. This gives the wall a sense of agency and personality, making it more than just an inanimate object.
Simile:-
Something there is that doesn't love a wall," which compares the force that causes the gaps in the wall to something that actively hates walls and wants to destroy them. This simile adds to the sense of mystery and tension in the poem, as the narrator seems to be describing a force that is beyond his understanding or control.
Symbolism:-
"Wall" and "fence" are symbols of barriers human beings construct consciously or unconsciously to prevent mutual understanding between them. In the poem, the "hill" symbolizes human prejudices and the communication gap.
Themes:-
Border and Limits
'Mending Wall' is a poem about borders and limitations. The speaker and the speaker’s neighbor are involved in an argument about rebuilding a wall that divides their properties. They argue about the role of the boundary wall and its effects on relationships. The speaker asks his neighbor what is the reason to continue rebuilding the wall. In response, the neighbor says repeatedly that “Good fences make good neighbors.” He believes that it is important for a good neighbor to maintain clear boundaries. They prevent problems arising between people who live close by. The neighbor seems to predict the possibility of future conflicts and considers it important to prevent them in advance. However, these issues are fundamental to human society.
The poem lets the readers decide for themselves who is correct and who is wrong. This poem forces the readers to make up their minds about the necessity of walls, borders, and other political and physical agents that separate people.
The Value of Work
The work that the speaker and his neighbor do is ritualistic. Each year in spring, the speaker and his neighbor talk about an inspection walk along the wall together. They together repair those areas of the wall that have been damaged over the years. It is tedious because, in the end, their hands get injured by lifting the rocks. In spite of the difficulty, they renew the wall each spring. The act of repairing the wall represents human labor. It is not the fence that makes a good neighbor or it is not the wall that establishes good relations. In simpler words, it is the rebuilding of the fence and walls that make good neighbors by making them work together.
For the speaker, the end result of the work is important. He values the permanent difference that such physical products make in the end. Oppositely, his neighbor values the work itself because he considers the work as an end in itself. He is of the view that work maintains a fair society. This poem also implicitly points towards the value of creative work. Such work is beautiful that does not materially change society but satisfies one’s mind and soul.
Changing Social Traditions
The main conflict of Frost's poem is between the speaker and the old neighbor. One thinks the wall is pointless and represents a never-ending struggle of futility. The other continues to repair a wall that will inevitably be torn down again by unseen forces, and he does so with no real reason other than "Good fences make good neighbors." This theme of changing social traditions and conventions is seen in many pieces of 1914 literature and almost always includes a younger person arguing or struggling against an older one. It is a universal and timeless struggle: the inevitable change of society.
Frost's audience lived in a world with rapidly changing social structure and terrifying new inventions around every corner. From the evolution of the lower class to the invention of the airplane, his readers would likely have benefited from the message in his "Mending Wall." This poem points out the logical choice, which would be acceptable, and the stubborn one, struggling against the future.
The Complexity of Human Relationships
The speaker mentions that the neighbor's words come from his father. His only reason for rebuilding the wall every year is that he has heard the words good fences make good neighbors again and again from a source of authority. He likes the tradition and, as the speaker says, "likes having thought of it." The character does something simply because his father did it before him. This cyclical nature of human interaction and relationship building is exactly what the speaker of "Mending Wall" ultimately questions.
The speaker does not spend much time on the words of his neighbor's father but simply questions why fences make good neighbors. His logic that there are no cows or anything else to keep in or out of the fence is sound, but his neighbor seemingly ignores it. There is some connection between the neighbor's unwillingness to hear the younger man's questions and his attachment to old sayings and traditions.
Thank you For Reading...
[Word Count- 2002]
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