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What Is The Mood Of The Poem Mending Wall

Decent Essays

Why Walls?
In the poem “Mending Wall” the author Robert Frost uses poetic elements to express the idea that barriers to communication, exchange of ideas and relationships should be questioned. By the use of particular form, rhythm and tone, his choice of words, and use of imagery and symbols the author uses a small poem to express a large idea.
The poem is written in blank verse, which is unrimed iambic pentameter. According to the authors of Backpack Literature, X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia, “Many writers, such as Robert Frost, feel iambs most easily capture the natural rhythms of our speech.” (503) This is a good choice for this lyric poem in which the speaker seems to be sharing his observations with the reader as if they were friends. …show more content…

This is not a condemnation of people who build walls, or a rallying call to tear down a wall. It is more like a conversation starter. The lack of rime combined with the easy rhythm and casual tone inspire the reader to think about barriers that people build between each other and whether they are really necessary.
The choice of words also encourage the reader to think about the divisions, both tangible and intangible, that people use to protect, defend or define themselves. In the poem, when the “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (1) “makes gaps even two can pass abreast” (4), the use of the word ‘abreast’ gives an image of people who are friendly enough with each other to walk closely, side by side through the opening in the wall. Strangers would probably go through one at a time to respect each other’s personal space. Using the word ‘something’ leaves a bit of mystery to the poem, encouraging readers to continue reading to find out …show more content…

The wall in the poem is a stone wall between the fields belonging to two neighbors. In the spring they work together to “set the wall between us once again” (14). The wall is a symbol for division, separation and barriers to friendship, communication and relationships. The author’s use of the tactile image of “we wear our fingers rough with handling them” (20) shows how much effort is involved in maintaining walls. Maintaining distance between other people also requires effort. In the line “He is all pine and I am apple orchard” (24) the author uses the symbol of the two different types of trees to represent the two neighbors, and the difference between staying fixed behind a rigid wall and being willing to be open to new ideas, to allow the wall to come down. The neighbor’s pines are a hard wood with prickly pine cones and needle shaped leaves that are unchanging as an evergreen. His ideas are also hard and unchanging. The speaker’s trees are deciduous apple trees that provide nourishing food, sweet smelling flowers and change with the seasons like his openness to the idea of leaving the wall down. There is also a contrast between the speaker’s fanciful description of the “something that doesn’t love a wall” (35) as elves (36) and the image of the neighbor as “an old-stone savage”

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