Robert Frost's Mending Wall and Russia's War Upon Ukraine

I am reading Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" and thinking about a potential resolution of Russia's war on Ukraine. Here is the poem, followed by my thoughts. 



Mending Wall

BY ROBERT FROST

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’

Other poems by Robert Frost


Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" was published in 1914 as the first poem in his collection "North of Boston." The poem delves into the themes of human nature, tradition, isolation, and the boundaries that people create between themselves and others.

In the poem, the speaker and his neighbor come together each spring to mend the stone wall that separates their properties. The wall serves as a physical barrier between them, but it also symbolizes the emotional and psychological barriers that humans build to protect their individual spaces and identities.

The poem begins with the famous lines: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall," implying that the speaker is questioning the necessity of the wall and the tradition of rebuilding it each year. The speaker observes that nature itself seems to be against the wall, as it causes damage to the wall through various forces like freezing and thawing.

The neighbor, however, adheres to the old adage: "Good fences make good neighbors," expressing a traditional belief that setting boundaries helps maintain peaceful relationships. He is committed to the practice of rebuilding the wall because it was a tradition handed down to him by his father.

Throughout the poem, the speaker challenges the necessity of the wall and tries to persuade his neighbor to consider if it is truly required. He questions the purpose of the wall, as their properties are separated by woods and pine trees, not livestock that might need to be contained. The speaker wonders if the wall is just an old habit, a reflexive response to keep what is "other" at bay.

"Mending Wall" explores the tension between the desire for individuality and privacy versus the need for connection and community. The neighbor represents tradition and a conservative approach to maintaining boundaries, while the speaker embodies a more progressive mindset that questions the need for such barriers.

In the end of the poem, despite the speaker's attempts to challenge the tradition, the neighbor remains resolute in his beliefs. The wall continues to be rebuilt, suggesting that these barriers and divisions are deeply ingrained in human behavior, and the poem leaves the readers pondering the complexities of human nature and the desire for both separation and connection.

The resolution of the Ukrainian conflict can be approached in two ways: mending the wall or reaching an agreement that walls are unnecessary. Until one of these paths is chosen, innocent lives will continue to be lost. It is crucial to find common ground and establish a peaceful solution to prevent further suffering and tragedy.

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