Question

Read the following lines from the poem ‘Mending Wall by Robert Frost and bring out the difference in attitude between the poet and his neighbour. ‘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 neighbours”

Answer 1

The poet is not at all in favour of having a wall between him and his neighbour. He tries to convince his neighbour by quite logical arguments. He tells him that he is growing apple. His neighbour is growing pines. There is no possibility that his apple trees will go and eat the pine cones of his neighbour. Neither will the pines of the neighbour will come to eat the apples of the poet. So what is the need for a wall, the poet asks. But the neighbour insists on having a wall and he says. “Good fences make good neighbours”. The poet is quite liberal and he wants to be open. But the neighbour is very possessive and he wants to keep his things in his wall. He wants to keep his things in and he wants to keep out the things of others. I think the attitude of the poet is better especially in this context as there is no danger of apple trees attacking pine trees or vice versa.