Mending Wall – Capsule Note

Mending Wall – Robert Frost 

• The poem is about a wall between two neighbours’ lands that needs repairing every spring.
• The narrator notices gaps appear in the wall, caused by frozen ground and hunters.
• Both neighbours repair the wall during spring mending-time, each fixing the stones on their side.
• The narrator thinks the wall is not really needed:
  • He has apple trees, and the neighbour has pine trees.
  • The apple trees will not cross into the pine trees’ space.
• The neighbour believes walls are important for good neighbourly relations, following tradition.
• The narrator questions this, thinking walls may sometimes be unnecessary:
  • He wonders why walls are built where there is nothing to protect.
  • Natural forces or human habits may create gaps in walls.
• The narrator observes the neighbour at work:
  • Handling stones carefully, following old practices.
  • Enjoys the work and repeats the family tradition.
• Key Themes: Tradition vs reason, human habits, influence of nature, isolation vs connection, questioning inherited beliefs. 

     [  XII Resources      XII Notes        XII Grammar      XII PPPTs]