Robert Frost had a fascination towards loneliness and isolation and thus expressed these ideas in

The Mending Wall, a poem written by Robert Frost, outlines the human instinct of placing boundaries and the necessity of them. He does so using a scenario in which two neighbors go through great lengths to maintain a fence between their homes. They barely associate themselves with one another, and they rarely see each other except for when they are repairing the fence that keeps them separated. I feel that I am able to connect with this piece especially well because throughout my life I have held similar metaphorical walls around myself. Thus, this piece identifies a major part of my nature

Robert Frost's "The Mending Wall" is a comment on the nature of our society. In this poem, Frost examines the way in which we interact with one another and how we function as a whole. For Frost, the world is often one of isolation. Man has difficulty communicating and relating to one another. As a result, we have a tendency to shut ourselves off from others. In the absence of effective communication, we play the foolish game of avoiding any meaningful contact with others in order to gain privacy.

“Mending Wall” is about two neighbors who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a

This creates a boundary that, that person never wants crossed again. Every now and again one finds openings within the bricks or holes in their “wall”. These holes in the wall represent the breakdown of one’s blockade as they are trying to let someone in or someone forcing their way in. On the other hand, there are people who love to have an open mindset towards everyone with no boundaries or guards up that they feel necessary. This is similar to the feelings of the speaker, as in lines 1-2 and lines 23 -26 in which the speaker tries to convince his neighbor that they do not need these walls, yet he continues to stick to his traditional saying of “good fences make good neighbors”. This brings the reader to an assumption that the neighbor has created these emotional barriers or “walls” that he is choosing to stick by. This term of “mending” that is used in the title means restored, altered, or adjusted which stands for a symbol in this poem of how as the relationship of the two neighbors changed, so did their fences as they might find these loose pieces. Within the poem the speaker talks of how the season of spring is coming about and he begins to get a little mischievous. This is one way the speaker uses the new season as a way to loosen these bricks within this wall that they have built and tear it down, but the neighbor refuses to give in. There are people like this in the world that try

However, when the responders’ delves deeper into the poem, it is clear that at a allegorical level the wall is a metaphor representing the barrier that exists in the neighbours’ friendship. The first eleven lines of the poem if rife with imagery that describes the dilapidation of the wall. The first line of the poem emphasises that “something” exists that “doesn’t love a wall”. This personification makes the “something” seem human-like. The use of words such as “spills” and “makes gaps” convey an image of animate actions and create a vivid impression of the degradation of the wall. Nature, presented in the form of cold weather, frost and the activities of creatures, also seeks to destroy the wall. The idea that walls are unnatural and therefore nature abhors walls is portrayed in the phrase “makes gaps even two can pass abreast”, which metaphorically indicates that nature desires for man to walk side by side with no barrier between them. When the two meet to fix the wall, it is a metaphor that could be interpreted as the two repairing their friendship as “To each the boulders have fallen to each” which shows that faults in their relationship lie on behalf of them both. While they are mending the wall, a light-hearted tone is established. This is shown through the inclusion of the metaphor “spring is mischief in me” which shows the neighbours having fun together in repairing the wall,

In Roberts, Mending Wall, he expresses the alienation within our society. This story was and is very controversial throughout history. Written in 1914, it became widely known for its connection with racism and segregation. In 1960, Frost was asked to read it for President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. In JFK’s inauguration speech, he declared, “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom”(Kennedy), which shows how he felt about segregation. This created a skirmish throughout the U.S., because this poem was so controversial. The poem, which was a memory when Frost was a young boy, consists of him walking the line. Walking the line means picking up rocks that had falling from the ice melting, recreating the fence between you and your neighbor. Frost suggests alienation in this story by using symbolism of the lines between African Americans and white folk. In the poem he asks the question, “Why do they make good neighbors”(line 30)? An interpretation of this line is that he is asking the question, ‘why do we have these lines between our people? There is no reasons to have these lines separating us?’. The poem suggests that we get into routines and then never break them because we have done them for generations. Frost challenges this, asking questions that are very hard to answer.

"Acquainted with the Night" is much more than a poem. It is a mantra, a way of life. This poem can rid the blinding haze from one's eyes. A tiny dose of optimism can go along way--even "beyond the furthest city

In Robert Frost’s poem, “Acquainted with the Night”, there is a sense of melancholic loneliness of which the speaker seems to be content with. The reader sees a glimpse of his perpetual depression on a habitual night time walk. He starts by saying he is “one acquainted with the night” (line 1). He feels a sort of companionship with this time of day. Ironically enough, while most everyone else is asleep and quiet, he feels a sense of belonging. The speaker personifies the city through parallels of his own lonely depression.

“Good fences makes good neighbors,” is a small portion from the Mending Wall written by one of modern times most proficient writers, Robert Frost. Two of the critical articles I examined were quite helpful in gaining a better understanding of the “Mending Wall” and also of Robert Frost’s poetry. The Gale Research shows the best and most effective understanding of the “Mending Wall,” mainly because it deals specifically with that poem. It basically states that the poem is built around two attitudes, that of the speaker, which the Gale critic presumes is the poet, who is imaginative and an independent thinker and that of the neighbor, who prefers not to question anything (Gale). The other article deals more with other poetry that Robert

Unearthing the true meaning of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall requires adherence to the ending adage: “Never judge a book by its cover.” This mindset prevents the apparent simplicity of the poem from misleading the reader. Considering the speaker’s lack of perception and ironic self-contradiction, the possible underestimation of his neighbor’s reasoning, and the ambiguous attitude Frost himself conveys suggest the audience should conscientiously avoid accepting the poem at face value. Despite the alluring temptation to accept the persona’s apparent hatred of walls, Mending Wall intricately presents two contradicting opinions regarding man’s necessity for barriers. The paradoxical nature of the poem lies in the fact that both view prove true. The neighbor realizes man simply cannot coexist peacefully without the limitations of boundaries regulating interaction. The speaker voices mankind’s inherent detestation of the restraints imposed by walls and the satisfaction derived from their destruction. Frost leaves the argument deliberately unsettled to acknowledge the coexistence of these views. As a result, the juxtaposition creates the ironic disparity between the poem’s apparently straightforward meaning and the subtler understanding that neither view prevails in reality. (Barry, 110).

In addition to this each poet describes a different response to isolation, Frost depicts an individual who is comfortable being isolated and makes the most of the situation which he finds himself in whereas Thomas depicts an individual who no longer wants to be isolated from others. In Man and Dog the line, “I’ll get no shakedown with that bedfellow from farmers”, the man cuts himself off from others, he chooses his isolation. In contrast to this in AOMWN the litote, “A light he was to no one but himself” implies that it is not by choice that the man chooses to be isolated, but rather through his inability to communicate to others. In addition to this in Man and Dog a “leaf-coloured robin watched”, the visual imagery shows how the man is close to nature, he makes the best of his isolation and is

In Robert Frost’s “Birches” and “Mending Wall”, Robert Frost uses personification, metaphor and alliteration to express his subtle and complex emotions of hopelessness and lonesomeness. For example, in “Birches” Frost describes the trees “seem[ing] not to break; though once they are bowed/So low for long, they never right themselves”(15-16). The personification of the trees perfectly describes the emotions of hopelessness and how hopeless persons feel. Once they feel like they failed and are at their low, they believe that there is no hope and that they will never be able to “right themselves.” In addition to feeling hopeless in life, Frost also states that “life is too much like a pathless wood/Where your face burns and tickles with the

In Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall”, he illustrates barriers as linking people through, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from those barriers. His messages are utilized through systems, for example, symbolism, structure, and humor, uncovering a complex side of the poem and, in addition, accomplishing a general carefree impact. In Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” a tightly woven intricate balance of literal and metaphorical meaning is portrayed through themes of isolation, mirroring of social boundaries, use of imagery, eloquent allegorical comparisons and a consistent tone.

Robert Frost said many times throughout his life that all men share a common bond. In his poem “The Tuft of Flowers” he analyzes the potential of such a bond, in first person. Frost turns an everyday common job, into discovering a common bond with another laborer. The author uses a comparison between aloneness with a sense of understanding to demonstrate his theme of unity between two men. In another one of Frost’s poems “Birches” he imagines walking through the woods looking at all the trees, and seeing the top bending towards the ground. When he sees this he imagines they are bending from kids swinging on them, rather then what is really happening to them. It can be analyzed that Frost had a very definitive appreciation for nature, and a very broad imagination.

Frost used a distinct way of writing throughout his poem that not only hooked the reader into the story, but also made them question their own views of walls, both physical and psychological. In the poem it is displayed that walls can be both good and bad. The wall that the narrator sees as the embodiment of what separates them, it is actually the one thing that brings them together every spring. Near the end, the narrator brings back the original question, what is the something? With this poem, maybe Frost wanted the reader to examine themselves and their surroundings and try to answer the question of tradition, and how they unite us and separates us at the same time. The narrator’s neighbor is the personification of the old ways and custom in the poem, it is evident as he is constantly repeating “good fences make good neighbors” (Frost 245) and the fact that “he will not go behind his father’s saying” (Frost 246). Even though, good fences make good neighbors is a well-known proverb, people will eventually ask themselves: Why is it necessary to have fences to build good