Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" examines the nature of interpersonal interactions. According to the speaker, there are two different types of people: those who favour barriers and those who do not. Frost's "Mending Wall," which is also available in its entirety online, was released by David Nutt in 1914. Here you can see a summary, appreciation, and themes of Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" for Plus two English.
It is regarded as one of the poems that have been studied and collected the most in contemporary literature. The poet, a New England farmer, is seen in the poem walking alongside his neighbour to mend the stone wall that divides their two fields in the spring. The narrator asks his neighbour why a wall is necessary as they begin to repair the wall. Although the poet claims that there is something that despises walls, his neighbour responds, “Good fences make good neighbours.”
| Board | SCERT, Kerala |
| Text Book | NCERT Based |
| Class | Plus Two |
| Subject | English Notes |
| Chapter | Chapter 1 |
| Chapter Name | Mending Wall (Poem) |
| Category | Plus Two Kerala |
Kerala Syllabus Plus Two English Notes Unit II Chapter 1 Mending Wall (Poem)
Chapter 1 Mending Wall (Poem)
Summary
Robert Frost, a celebrated American poet, wrote "Mending Wall." It is a poem on human limitations and their advantages in society that is thought-provoking and fascinating. It was released for the first time in 1914. The poem tells the tale of two neighbours who cross paths each year in the spring to repair the stone wall dividing their fields. The poem illustrates how building such walls can help people maintain their long-standing relationships with their neighbours and how good fences make for good neighbours. Due to its publishing all over the world and its straightforward yet profound content, it has had tremendous success.
The poem "Mending Wall" is about the activity of mending a wall that the speaker and his neighbour do each spring. The poem's speaker perceives that there is no need for a border because neither of them has something priceless to store in grass. On their farm, they just have trees. Repairing the wall is an inappropriate activity, according to the poet. He continues by observing the stones falling from the wall and claims that even nature is not in favour of this fence separating the fields. However, he tries to defend erecting it because his neighbour is adamant about upholding his customs. In order for partnerships to succeed, he places emphasis on the importance of space and boundaries. The author's message, which is that most relationships can function effectively with boundaries, captures the reader's attention. Exploration, curiosity, and the need for the poem's gap are some of the poem's main themes.
The poem depicts a dispute between the two neighbours as well. The speaker is unable to comprehend the need for the wall separating their fields, despite the fact that they get together every year in the spring to repair it. The poet inquires about building the wall from a place of curiosity. He still receives no satisfactory response. When his neighbour emphasises the need for separation, he is saying that strong fences maintain warm, emotional relationships.
To communicate the depth and clarity of the poem's texts, literary strategies are used. These literary techniques are employed by the authors and poets of the masterpiece to enhance the appeal and expressiveness of their poetry or prose compositions. In order to discuss the significance of the fence, Robert Frost has also employed several literary techniques.
Mending Wall Appreciation
The world we live in today is considered so prosperous in many ways. Technological advances and economic well-being play a significant role in this. However, the poem “Mending Wall,” written by Robert Frost, challenges the basis of such arguments. It asks some basic, thought-provoking questions
The poem describes the activity of patching or repairing a wall after each time it has collapsed. The narrator of the poem is not quite sure about the reason behind it. He tends to believe that it can be nature's work that causes the ground to swell beneath him. He also blames the hunters who leave no stone after the other. The elves also come into his list of people who can do such things. On the contrary, his neighbour is not interested in finding reasons, but instead repeats a refrain: "Good fences make good neighbours". The poet is not interested in keeping the wall between himself and his neighbour. However, his neighbour insists, repeating his father's dictum that it must be there.
The main idea that the poet wants to convey concerns, man-made divisions. The wall conveys a symbolic meaning of separation; a wall built in the spirit. This separation works on different levels. It works primarily in the name of nationality, religion, caste and race. It can also be operated on the basis of social, political and economic considerations. Although holding walls keeps us safe and secure, they are the main reasons people don't understand. They force us to give more importance to private property. This will make us unwilling to share resources. In the poem, we hear the poet speak only of his neighbour's apples and cones, but we never hear him say anything about sharing them. In general, the poet pokes fun at people's propensity for narrow-mindedness.
The poem can be seen as a critique of the modern world in which we have refugee crises, terrorist attacks and border conflicts (wars and encounters). In many countries, mobocracy prevails rather than democracy, the systematic administration of a nation. This leads us to a lawless chaotic society. The speaker and his neighbour, the poet in this poem discuss about how traditional attitudes of a person can act as blockchain to modern values. The speaker of the poem sees himself as a civilized man who resists conforming to old values, and his neighbour as an uncivilized barbarian. Although the poem has an open ending, we can surmise that the poet stands on the side of modern values where limiting traditional values are being eliminated. Ironically, however, a deconstructive analysis of the poem reveals a completely different meaning: the word "mending" can be viewed not only as a verb (as an activity), but also as an adjective, where meaning becomes a wall that repairs or dissolves human relationships the problems in human relationships. This is how you could imagine the wall in a positive sense. But nature, which knows best, wants to tear down the wall. That is why the poet says that nature swells the ground under the wall.
The poet uses many poetic devices. In lines 25-26 we can see the poet using the poetic device of personification (giving human qualities to inanimate things): "My apple trees will never come across/And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him." Line 19 becomes used by the poet for the poetic device of the apostrophe (poet speaking to an imaginary person or object): "Stay where you are until our backs are turned". The refrain "Good fences make good neighbours" can also be considered an epigram (a funny saying). The language of the poem is clear but conveys a lot of meaning. We can also notice that the poem is structured as a 45-line fence.
As a whole, the poem calls for breaking down man-made walls and building a better world where brotherhood and harmony are upheld in places of conflict and segregation.
Related Questions
a) Why does the poet say that there is something that doesn’t love, a wall?
Because no one can be seen or heard smashing the wall, the poet claims that something does not love the wall. But the poet discovers the wall is breached every spring. Therefore, it is clear that something dislikes walls and wants to see them destroyed. This "something" causes the ground beneath the wall to swell, forcing the wall's stones to tumble to either side.
b) Why does the poet meet his neighbour beyond the hill at spring?
In order to fix it one day and stroll along the wall to repair it by picking up the fallen stones and fixing them back, the poet meets his neighbour beyond the hill in the spring.
c) How do the poet and his neighbour mend the gaps in the wall?
The poet and his neighbour try to repair the holes in the wall by travelling along it on either side and picking up the stones that have fallen and putting them back on the wall.
d) Why does the poet argue that there is no need for a wall in between his estate and that of his neighbour? Answer:
The poet claims that because his territory is covered in apple trees and his neighbour's is full of pine trees, there is no need for a wall to separate the two estates. The apple trees of the poet will never visit his property to consume the pine cones.
e) Why does the poet consider the spring season mischievous?
Because gaps are visible in the walls during the spring, the poet thinks that season is naughty. He believes that the ice beneath the wall expands during the springtime. The wall begins to break as a result of this expansion, causing the upper stones to tumble down the sides of the wall.
f) What are the contrasting views presented in the poem?.
The poet holds a particular opinion, but his neighbour holds a different one. When the author's territory has apple trees and the neighbour's area has pine trees, the poet believes there is no need for a wall or fence between neighbours. There is no chance that the apple trees will invade the neighbour's property and consume the pine cones. The neighbour, though, believes that excellent fences create good neighbours.
Plus Two English Notes
Chapter 1: Mending Wall (Poem) Notes - Preview
Chapter 1: Mending Wall (Poem) Notes - Download
Plus Two English Notes PDF Download
- Chapter 1: The 3Ls of Empowerment (Speech)
- Chapter 2: Any Woman (Poem)
- Chapter 3: Matchbox (Story)
- Chapter 4: Horegallu (Anecdote)
- Chapter 1: Mending Wall (Poem)
- Chapter 2: Amigo Brothers (Story)
- Chapter 3: The Hour of Truth (One-act play)
- Chapter 1: A Three-Wheeled Revolution (Interview)
- Chapter 2: Didi (Life Writing)
- Chapter 3: Stammer (Poem)
- Chapter 1: When a Sapling is Planted (Speech)
- Chapter 2: Rice (Poem)
- Chapter 3: Dangers of Drug Abuse (Essay)
- Chapter 1: Post Early for Christmas (One-act play)
- Chapter 2: This is Going to Hurt Just a Little Bit (Poem)
- Chapter 3: Crime and Punishment (Story)
Unit 1 Flights of Freedom
Unit 2 Heights of Harmony
Unit 3 Challenges of Life
Unit 4 Live and Let Live
Unit 5 The Lighter Side
Feel free to comment and share this article if you find
it useful. Give your valuable suggestions in the comment session or
contact us for any details regarding HSE Kerala Plus Two syllabus,
Previous year's question papers, and other study materials.
Plus Two English Related Links
| Plus Two English Notes | Click Here |
| Plus Two English Textbook Solutions | Click Here |
| Plus Two Focus Area | Click Here |
| Plus Two Previous Year Questions with Solution | Click Here |
| Plus Two Latest Syllabus | Click Here |
Other Related Links
| Plus Two Physics | Click Here |
| Plus Two Chemistry | Click Here |
| Plus Two Mathematics | Click Here |
| Plus Two Botany | Click Here |
| Plus Two Zoology | Click Here |
| Plus Two Computer Science | Click Here |
| Plus Two English | Click Here |
| Plus Two Hindi | Click Here |
| Plus Two Malayalam | Click Here |
| Plus Two Arabic | Click Here |
We hope the given HSE Kerala Board Syllabus Plus Two English Notes Chapter
Wise Pdf Free Download in both English Medium and Malayalam Medium will help
you.
If you have any queries regarding Higher Secondary Kerala Plus Two NCERT
syllabus, drop a comment below and we will get back to you
at the earliest.
