“Mending Wall” Summary

“Mending Wall”

Summary

“Mending Wall” is a poem by Robert Frost. The speaker in the poem says that even though there is a wall that separates between his and neighbour's plot, there is something in nature that does not like a wall. He cites three reasons. The first is that "Something" in nature creates a tremor which shakes the wall. As a result of this, the boulders crack a little bit. The second is that the wall exposes cracked boulders in the daylight. The third is that "Something" in nature creates gaps in the wall. The speaker asserts that through this gap, two people can “pass” easily. Then the most annoying thing is the activities which are done by the hunters. Hunters, who come there for hunting, place the stones apart or put one stone over the another to find out the rabbits from its burrow. They do it in order to lure the “yelping dogs”.

The speaker says that no one knows when this gap is formed. Unfortunately, during the spring season when the speaker comes for mending the wall, he can see these gaps. When he sees these gaps, he will inform his neighbour who is living “beyond the hill”. Both of them fix a particular date to do the mending.

According to the speaker, mending the wall is a tedious job because there are so many gaps. They have to place “each the boulders that have fallen”. Some “boulders” are in the form of “loaves” or “balls” which usually roll away when they place in the wall. Fixing these unshapely “boulders”are not an easy task. Since there are so many stones that have fallen down, their fingers become “rough” when they place them back.For the speaker, “mending” the wall is like an outdoor game where each of them will be on the either side of the stone wall and put the stone one after the another.
Then the speaker tells that there is no need of a wall between his and the neighbour's plot because there are pine trees in the neighbour's plot and an apple orchard in the speaker's plot. He says that his apples will “never get across/ and eat the cones” which are in the neighbour's yard. So the wall is unnecessary. On the contrary, the neighbour says, “Good fences make good neighbours”.

The speaker says that during spring season, he shows his “mischief” side. He really wants to instigate one notion in the neighbour's head which is that there is no need of fences. Since there are no cows in both of their yards which means that there is no need of having a wall because it is not serving any purpose. He is telling that before he makes a wall, he wants to know which are things he is “walling in” and “walling out” and to whom is about to give an “offence”.

The speaker again tells that even the natural world does not like the wall as the stones fall down from the wall without any reason (“Something there is that doesn't love a wall, / That wants it down.”...”). He even thinks to tell the neighbour that it is the “Elves” who are behind these mischiefs.

But when the speaker looks at the neighbour, he feels that he is a “savage” who has stones in his hands and engages in “mending” the wall. After “mending” the wall, the neighbour is going back to his home with the belief that “Good fences make good neighbours”.

Important links to other chapters in unit 1 and unit 2