Mending Wall

About the Author & Poem

Robert Frost (1874–1963): A highly admired American poet known for his realistic depictions of rural New England life. He was a master of using colloquial speech to explore deep philosophical themes and won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times.

The Poem: "Mending Wall" describes the annual spring ritual where two neighbors meet to repair the stone wall separating their farms. The poem presents a conflict between two viewpoints: the speaker, who questions the need for artificial barriers ("Something there is that doesn't love a wall"), and the neighbor, who stubbornly holds onto tradition ("Good fences make good neighbours"). It serves as a powerful metaphor for the mental and social barriers humans build between one another.

II. Comprehension Questions

1. "Something" in line 1 refers to:
Answer: (a) natural causes.

2. How does nature disturb the stones on the wall?
Answer: Nature sends the frozen ground swell under the wall, which causes the upper boulders to spill in the sun and creates gaps large enough for two people to pass abreast.

3. How do hunters disturb the stones on the wall?
Answer: Hunters disturb the wall by leaving "not one stone on a stone" in their attempts to flush rabbits out of hiding to please their yelping dogs.

4. Who does "they" in line 7 refer to?
Answer: "They" refers to the hunters.

5. Who are the two characters in the poem?
Answer: The two characters are the speaker (the narrator) and his neighbor who lives beyond the hill.

6. When does the mending of the wall take place?
Answer: The mending takes place at "spring mending-time."

7. When the poet says, "we have to use a spell to make them balance":
Answer: (b) he is just saying it humorously.

8. What did the speaker let the neighbour know?
Answer: The speaker let the neighbor know that it was time for them to meet, walk along the boundary line, and set the wall between them once again.

9. a) What is referred to as just another outdoor game?
Answer: The act of mending the wall, with one person on each side, is referred to as an outdoor game.
b) Why does the speaker call it a game?
Answer: He calls it a game because it feels like a purposeless annual ritual, similar to a sport where each player stays on their own side of the "line."

10. What argument does the speaker use to convince his neighbour that they do not need the wall?
Answer: He argues that they do not have cows to keep in; one neighbor has only pine trees while the speaker has an apple orchard. He jokingly tells the neighbor that his apple trees will never get across to eat the cones under the pines.

11. What is the neighbour's stock reply?
Answer: His stock reply is, "Good fences make good neighbours."

12. By building a wall between neighbours, what are we "walling in" and what are we "walling out?"
Answer: We are walling in our own privacy and property, but we are walling out the opportunity for open communication and human connection. We may also be walling out natural movements or walling in offense and suspicion.

13. a) What does "it" refer to in "I'd rather he said it for himself"?
Answer: "It" refers to the realization that the wall is unnecessary and that there is a force in nature ("Something") that wants it down.
b) What does the speaker mean by this statement?
Answer: The speaker wants the neighbor to think for himself and move beyond inherited tradition rather than just repeating his father's sayings.

14. How does the neighbour carrying a stone in each hand appear to the poet?
Answer: He appears like an "old-stone savage armed," moving in a kind of primitive darkness.

15. Darkness in line 41 refers to:
Answer: (b) a mental darkness, ignorance and (c) his "blindness" to see the light in the speaker's arguments.

16. What do you think is the metaphorical meaning of the wall?
Answer: The wall represents the artificial barriers—emotional, social, religious, or political—that humans build to isolate themselves from others based on tradition, lack of trust, or a desire for separation.

17. Why do you think the speaker resents the wall? What does he want?
Answer: The speaker resents the wall because it is a barrier to friendship and natural interaction. He wants a world where walls are unnecessary because there is mutual trust and common understanding.

1. "He moves in darkness as it seems to me, / Not of woods only and the shade of trees."
a) Who does "he" refer to? Answer: The neighbor.
b) What does "darkness" mean here? Answer: It refers to mental ignorance or the darkness of unthinking tradition.
c) Why does the speaker say that "he" moves in darkness? Answer: Because the neighbor refuses to question the need for the wall and stubbornly sticks to his father's old saying without any logical reason.

2. "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
a) Who are these words said to? Answer: The stones (boulders) that the speaker and neighbor are trying to balance on the wall.
b) Who does "our" refer to? Answer: The speaker and the neighbor.
c) What is the tone of the speaker? Answer: The tone is humorous and light-hearted.

III. Paragraph Writing

Answer: I would prefer to live with the speaker. He is logical, reasonable, and possesses a fine sense of humor. Unlike the neighbor, who is rigid and tied to old-fashioned traditions ("He moves in darkness"), the speaker is cosmopolitan and open-minded. He questions the necessity of boundaries that serve no practical purpose and recognizes that nature itself seems to favor connection over isolation. His light-hearted approach to the "game" of mending the wall shows that he values human interaction and intellect over stubborn, unthinking walls.

IV. Activities: Opposing Views

i. "Something there is that doesn't love a wall" - Speaker
ii. "good fences make good neighbours" - Neighbour
iii. very conservative - Neighbour
iv. logical and reasonable - Speaker
v. light-hearted, humorous - Speaker
vi. playing safe - Neighbour
vii. respects tradition - Neighbour
viii. even God and nature seem to be against a wall between men - Speaker
ix. apple orchard - Speaker
x. living beyond the hills - Neighbour
xi. an old stone savage - Neighbour
xii. cosmopolitan in outlook - Speaker