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Somethingthereisthatdoesn’tloveawall,Thatsendsthefrozen-ground-swellunderitAndspillstheupperbouldersinthesun,Andmakesgapseventwocanpassabreast.Theworkofhuntersisanotherthing:5IhavecomeafterthemandmaderepairWheretheyhaveleftnotonestoneonastone,Buttheywouldhavetherabbitoutofhiding,Topleasetheyelpingdogs.ThegapsImean,Noonehasseenthemmadeorheardthemmade,10Butatspringmending-timewefindthemthere.Iletmyneighborknowbeyondthehill;AndonadaywemeettowalkthelineAndsetthewallbetweenusonceagain.Wekeepthewallbetweenusaswego.15Toeachthebouldersthathavefallentoeach.AndsomeareloavesandsomesonearlyballsWehavetouseaspelltomakethembalance:“Staywhereyouareuntilourbacksareturned!”Wewearourfingersroughwithhandlingthem.20Oh,justanotherkindofoutdoorgame,Oneonaside.Itcomestolittlemore:Therewhereitiswedonotneedthewall:HeisallpineandIamappleorchard.Myappletreeswillnevergetacross25Andeattheconesunderhispines,Itellhim.Heonlysays,“Goodfencesmakegoodneighbors.”Springisthemischiefinme,andIwonderIfIcouldputanotioninhishead:“Whydotheymakegoodneighbors?Isn’tit30Wheretherearecows?Butheretherearenocows.BeforeIbuiltawallI’dasktoknowWhatIwaswallinginorwallingout,AndtowhomIwasliketogiveoffense.Somethingthereisthatdoesn’tloveawall,35Thatwantsitdown.”Icouldsay“Elves”tohim,Butit’snotelvesexactly,andI’dratherHesaiditforhimself.Iseehimthere,BringingastonegraspedfirmlybythetopIneachhand,likeanold-stonesavagearmed.40Hemovesindarknessasitseemstome,Notofwoodsonlyandtheshadeoftrees.Hewillnotgobehindhisfather’ssaying,AndhelikeshavingthoughtofitsowellHesaysagain,“Goodfencesmakegoodneighbors.”45有一点什么，它大概是不喜欢墙，候，中间隔着一垛墙。我心里作祟，我在悬想仅是来自深林与树荫。。SummaryAstonewallseparatesthespeaker’spropertyfromhisneighbor’s.Inspring,thetwomeettowalkthewallandjointlymakerepairs.Thespeakerseesnoreasonforthewalltobekept—therearenocowstobecontained,justappleandpinetrees.Hedoesnotbelieveinwallsforthesakeofwalls.Theneighborresortstoanoldadage:“Goodfencesmakegoodneighbors.”Thespeakerremainsunconvincedandmischievouslypressestheneighbortolookbeyondtheold-fashionedfollyofsuchreasoning.Hisneighborwillnotbeswayed.Thespeakerenvisionshisneighborasaholdoverfromajustifiablyoutmodedera,alivingexampleofadark-agementality.Buttheneighborsimplyrepeatstheadage.FormBlankverseisthebaselinemeterofthispoem,butfewofthelinesmarchalonginblankverse’scharacteristiclock-stepiambs,fiveabreast.Frostmaintainsfivestressedsyllablesperline,buthevariesthefeetextensivelytosustainthenaturalspeech-likequalityoftheverse.Therearenostanzabreaks,obviousend-rhymes,orrhymingpatterns,butmanyoftheend-wordsshareanassonance(e.g.,wall,hill,balls,wall,andwellsun,thing,stone,mean,line,andagainorgame,them,andhimtwice).Internalrhymes,too,aresubtle,slanted,andconceivablycoincidental.Thevocabularyisallofapiece—nofancywords,allshort(onlyoneword,another,isofthreesyllables),allconversational—andthisisperhapswhythewordsresonatesoconsummatelywitheachotherinsoundandfeel.CommentaryIhaveafriendwho,asayounggirl,hadtomemorizethispoemaspunishmentforsomenow-forgottenmisbehavior.Forcedmemorizationisneverpleasant;still,thisisafinepoemforrecital.“MendingWall”issonorous,homey,wry—arch,even—yetserene;itissteepedinlevelsofmeaningimpliedbyitswell-wroughtmetaphoricsuggestions.Theseimplicationsinspirenumerousinterpretationsandmakedefinitivereadingssuspect.Herearebutafewthingstothinkaboutasyourereadthepoem.Theimageattheheartof“MendingWall”isarresting:twomenmeetingontermsofcivilityandneighborlinesstobuildabarrierbetweenthem.Theydosooutoftradition,outofhabit.YettheveryearthconspiresagainstthemandmakestheirtaskSisyphean.Sisyphus,youmayrecall,isthefigureinGreekmythologycondemnedperpetuallytopushaboulderupahill,onlytohavetheboulderrolldownagain.Thesemenpushbouldersbackontopofthewall;yetjustasinevitably,whetheratthehandofhuntersorsprites,orthefrostandthawofnature’sinvisiblehand,theboulderstumbledownagain.Still,theneighborspersist.Thepoem,thus,seemstomeditateconventionallyonthreegrandthemes:barrier-building(segregation,inthebroadestsenseoftheword),thedoomednatureofthisenterprise,andourpersistenceinthisactivityregardless.But,aswesooftenseewhenwelookcloselyatFrost’sbestpoems,whatbeginsinfolksystraightforwardnessendsincomplexambiguity.Thespeakerwouldhaveusbelievethattherearetwotypesofpeople:thosewhostubbornlyinsistonbuildingsuperfluouswalls(withclichésastheirjustification)andthosewhowoulddispensewiththispractice—wall-buildersandwall-breakers.Butaretheseimpulsessoeasilyseparable?Andwhatdoesthepoemreallysayaboutthenecessityofboundaries?Thespeakermayscornhisneighbor’sobstinatewall-building,mayobservetheactivitywithhumorousdetachment,buthehimselfgoestothewallatalltimesoftheyeartomendthedamagedonebyhunters;itisthespeakerwhocontactstheneighboratwall-mendingtimetosettheannualappointment.Whichperson,then,istherealwall-builder?Thespeakersaysheseesnoneedforawallhere,butthisimpliesthattheremaybeaneedforawallelsewhere—“wheretherearecows,”forexample.Yetthespeakermustderivesomething,someuse,somesatisfaction,outoftheexerciseofwall-building,orwhywouldheinitiateithere?Thereissomethinginhim