Mending Wall

Robert Frost is a great poet of nature but he is even greater as a poet of man . His renowned poem , Mending Wall , symbolizes the conflict between the new trend of bringing down barriers between men and nations , and the old view that for good and healthy neighborly relations fences are necessary . This one of the most quoted poem of Frost was included in North of Boston which was published in 1914 . In this dramatic lyric on monologue we have a young man as the speaker expressing his views and attitudes

The

implied character is supposed to be his neighbor . Even though he does not utter a single word we know about his views , attitudes conservatism and orthodoxy from the words of the poet . In the surface level , the monologue is just descriptive and anecdotal , but it raises a question before the readers as to whose views are correct . Untermeyer expresses the view that the above said poem rests upon a contradiction Its most quoted lines like Something there is that doesn 't love a wall ' And Good fences make good neighbours ' oppose each other . In his discourse about this poem he further opines that the contradiction is logical as these points are raised by two different people of two different mentalities

Another interesting fact about the poem is that the poem begins and ends with these two diametrically opposed notions . But there is no doubt in the fact that Frost is not much concerned about emphasizing one view but with contrasting two attitudes . This contrast is felt in two relevant words of the poem - `love ' and `wall . Love , no doubt , is a positive human emotion whereas wall suggests a complete barrier . This discourse throughout the poem gives the readers the impression that neither man has a clear-sighted and balanced view of the operation in which they annually involve . Both their arguments contain a certain justice and at the same time certain shortsightedness

In it the poet simply portrays the conflict , without giving any judgment . The readers infer from that that though he stands in favor of bringing down barriers set by mankind that causes drift and separation among kith and kin , he appreciates the view presented by his neighbor who insists on keeping the principle of his forefathers that Good fences make good neighbors ' It is not able to live without boundaries and limits , yet man resents all those bounds and is too happy to see them fall down

Reading symbolically , it should be noted that it is a comment on religious , racial , ideological and national barriers that divides the man from another . These barriers , no doubt , affect human relationships generate tensions which in turn get converted into emotional imbalance On the other hand , a superficial reading will show that it is merely an account of two New Englanders , one of whom insists on building a boundary wall between their fields to keep up the regard of both . The other person seems to be against the idea

This admirable...