"Mending Wall" by Robert Frost explores the idea of boundaries, both physical and

metaphorical, as well as the tensions that arise between neighbors in maintaining them. Here's
a line-by-line analysis of the poem:

1. "Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,"

- The poem opens with a statement questioning the necessity of walls, suggesting that there's
a force or instinct that opposes them.

2. "That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,"

- This line describes a natural phenomenon where the ground freezes and expands, causing
the wall to shift and break.

3. "And spills the upper boulders in the sun;"

- The freezing and thawing of the ground cause the wall's boulders to fall, creating gaps in the
wall.

4. "And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

- The gaps in the wall become large enough for two people to walk through side by side,
implying that the wall serves little practical purpose.

5. "The work of hunters is another thing:"

- Here, the speaker acknowledges a different kind of destruction caused by hunters, who
damage the wall while pursuing prey.

6. "I have come after them and made repair"

- The speaker takes on the responsibility of repairing the wall, highlighting the cyclical nature
of the wall's maintenance.

7. "Where they have left not one stone on a stone,"

- The hunters leave the wall in disarray, with every stone knocked down.

8. "But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,"

- The hunters prioritize catching rabbits over respecting the integrity of the wall, showing a
disregard for boundaries.

9. "To please the yelping dogs."

- The hunters' actions are driven by their desire to please their dogs, emphasizing the primal
and instinctual nature of their behavior.

10. "The gaps I mean,"

- The speaker refers back to the gaps in the wall created by natural forces and hunters.

11. "No one has seen them made or heard them made,"
- The creation of the gaps in the wall is mysterious and unseen, occurring silently over time.
12. "But at spring mending-time we find them there."
- The gaps in the wall are discovered during the spring when the speaker and the neighbor
come together to repair it.

13. "I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;"

- The speaker informs their neighbor about the need to repair the wall.

14. "And on a day we meet to walk the line"

- The speaker and the neighbor meet to inspect the wall and repair it together, demonstrating
a shared responsibility for maintaining the boundary.

15. "And set the wall between us once again."

- Despite their cooperation in repairing the wall, it ultimately serves to separate the speaker
and the neighbor.

16. "We keep the wall between us as we go."

- The wall symbolizes the emotional and psychological distance between the neighbors, even
as they work together.

17. "To each the boulders that have fallen to each."

- Each neighbor takes responsibility for the fallen boulders on their side of the wall,
suggesting a sense of ownership and accountability.

18. "And some are loaves and some so nearly balls"

- The fallen boulders come in different shapes and sizes, requiring effort to balance them on
the wall.

19. "We have to use a spell to make them balance:"

- The difficulty of balancing the boulders suggests the labor-intensive and ritualistic nature of
repairing the wall.

20. "‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’"
- The speaker jokingly commands the boulders to stay in place until they're finished repairing
the wall, anthropomorphizing them.

21. "We wear our fingers rough with handling them."

- Repairing the wall is physically demanding, causing the neighbors' fingers to become rough
and calloused.

22. "Oh, just another kind of out-door game,"

- The speaker compares repairing the wall to a game, suggesting that it's a routine and
somewhat trivial task.
23. "One on a side. It comes to little more:"
- Despite the effort put into repairing the wall, it ultimately has little significance beyond
maintaining the status quo.

24. "There where it is we do not need the wall:"

- The speaker questions the necessity of the wall in certain areas where it doesn't serve a
practical purpose.

25. "He is all pine and I am apple orchard."

- The speaker describes the differences between themselves and their neighbor, highlighting
their contrasting lifestyles and personalities.

26. "My apple trees will never get across"

- The speaker's apple trees are unable to cross the wall to reach the neighbor's side,
emphasizing the barrier it creates.

27. "And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him."
- The speaker humorously imagines their apple trees crossing the wall to consume the
neighbor's pine cones, highlighting the absurdity of the situation.

28. "He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’"

- The neighbor responds to the speaker's musings with a proverbial saying, suggesting a
belief in the necessity of boundaries for maintaining peaceful relations.

29. "Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder"

- The speaker reflects on their mischievous impulses during the springtime, questioning the
neighbor's adherence to the tradition of repairing the wall.

30. "If I could put a notion in his head:"

- The speaker considers influencing the neighbor's perspective on the wall, suggesting a
desire to challenge their beliefs.

31. "‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it"

- The speaker questions the neighbor's assertion about the benefits of fences, probing deeper
into the reasons behind their belief.

32. "Where there are cows? But here there are no cows."
- The speaker suggests that the neighbor's belief in the necessity of boundaries may be
based on practical considerations related to livestock, which don't apply in their situation.

33. "Before I built a wall I’d ask to know"

- The speaker expresses a desire for thoughtful consideration before erecting barriers,
emphasizing the importance of understanding their purpose and potential consequences.
34. "What I was walling in or walling out,"
- The speaker questions the purpose of building a wall, whether it's meant to protect or
isolate, and who or what it affects.

35. "And to whom I was like to give offense."

- The speaker considers the potential for causing offense by building a wall, acknowledging
the impact it may have on others.

36. "Something there is that doesn't love a wall,"

- The poem concludes with a repetition of the opening line, reinforcing the idea that there's an
innate resistance to barriers and divisions.

37. "That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,"

- The speaker playfully suggests attributing the desire to dismantle the wall to mythical
creatures like elves, rather than acknowledging their own skepticism.

38. "But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather"

- The speaker acknowledges the absurdity of blaming elves for the desire to dismantle the
wall, preferring that the neighbor come to this realization on their own.

39. "He said it for himself. I see him there"

- The speaker imagines the neighbor coming to the realization that the wall serves little
purpose, suggesting a shift in perspective.

40. "Bringing a stone grasped