Question

source: robert frost, north of boston, 1914. something there is that doesnt 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? isnt it where there are cows? but here there are no cows. before i built a wall id ask to know what i was walling in or walling out, and to whom i was like to give offense. something there is that doesnt love a wall, that wants it down.” i could say “elves” to him, but its not elves exactly, and id 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 fathers saying, and he likes having thought of it so well he says again, “good fences make good neighbors.” document analysis 1. there are two “characters” in this narrative poem—“i” (the speaker) and “he.” who is “he”? 2. what task are these two characters doing? 3. the first line of the poem is repeated for emphasis elsewhere. write the line here and explain its meaning. 4. the last line of the poem is also repeated elsewhere. write the line here and explain its meaning. 5. compare the repeated lines from questions #3 and #4. do these two lines present similar or different ideas? which line does the speaker believe? which line does his neighbor believe? explain. 6. toward the end of the poem, the speaker says his neighbor “moves in darkness as it seems to me”—but not the literal darkness “of woods only and the shade of trees.” what metaphorical “darkness” could the speaker mean? 7. beyond the literal meaning, what is the metaphorical meaning of the poem “mending wall”? explain.

Explanation:

1. "He" is the speaker's neighbor who adheres to the traditional saying "Good fences make good neighbors".
2. The two characters are mending the stone - wall between their properties.
3. The repeated line "Something there is that doesn't love a wall". It implies a natural or mysterious force that causes the wall to break down, suggesting that there is an inherent opposition to the idea of barriers.
4. The repeated line "Good fences make good neighbors". It represents the neighbor's traditional and conservative view that boundaries are necessary for good neighborly relations.
5. The two lines present different ideas. The speaker doubts the need for the wall and believes in the line "Something there is that doesn't love a wall", while the neighbor firmly believes in "Good fences make good neighbors", representing a more traditional and boundary - oriented mindset.
6. The metaphorical "darkness" could refer to the neighbor's old - fashioned, unthinking adherence to tradition without questioning it, as opposed to the speaker's more open - minded and inquisitive nature.
7. Metaphorically, the poem represents the conflict between those who embrace change and openness (the speaker) and those who prefer to maintain traditional boundaries and separations (the neighbor). It also explores the nature of human relationships and the role of boundaries in them.

Answer:

1. The neighbor.
2. Mending the wall between their properties.
3. "Something there is that doesn't love a wall". It implies an opposition to barriers.
4. "Good fences make good neighbors". It represents a traditional view on boundaries.
5. Different ideas. Speaker: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall". Neighbor: "Good fences make good neighbors".
6. The neighbor's unthinking adherence to tradition.
7. Conflict between openness and tradition in human relationships.