Imagist Poetry: Response to Mending Wall by Robert Frost

Ammie Laplace

Baugus

AML2020

5 July 2017

Imagist Poetry: Response to Mending Wall by Robert Frost

        Robert Frost is well known for his unique style in poetry and his ability to use descriptive imagery in his poems, mainly describing rural New England. Even more impressive is that Frost can accomplish his imagery in a short poem and without using complicated, decorative words. In Mending Wall, Frost paints the reader an image of two farms in the New England countryside that are separated by a rock wall. Frost uses free verse, musical phrasing, colloquial language, and no unnecessary words to give the reader this image; all of which are goals of the imagist movement.

        Through Imagism, Frost allows the reader to easily interpret what he is describing without necessarily yielding the theme or idea he means to shed light on. One major theme present in this poem is tradition, specifically the blind following of traditions versus questioning traditions. After the narrator tries to explain to his neighbor that the wall seems unnecessary, the neighbor simply says in response “Good fences make good neighbors”. This begs more questioning from the narrator as to why the neighbor so blindly follows tradition. “Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder / If I could put a notion in his head: / “Why do they make good neighbors?” (28-30). Frost is illustrating the thoughts of the narrator as he is questioning traditions, as the narrator is hoping to understand his neighbors reasoning while thinking of a better, more efficient way to live together.

        Frost’s use of colloquial language in the poem also plays a large part in the imagery that the reader perceives. The musical phrasing of “spoken language” is seen in this poem and it reads just as if it would be spoken, without the use of fancy words and lengthy descriptions that might be seen in older poetry. This allows the imagery to be the poems focus. This can be seen when Frost is describing the ways that the wall falls apart over the course of the year. The theme of nature is evident in his descriptions of rocks falling as dogs hunt rabbits that hide between the rocks. Also, when Frost describes the frozen ground swelling and melting in the winter that causes the rocks to fall. This theme is not explicitly said, but the reader can assume that Frost is implying the power of natural forces or even nature versus man.

        The goal of imagism is also evident in Mending Wall by the way that Frost does not use unnecessary words. All of the words in the poem are short, simple words that all have 3 syllables or less. This contributes to the rhythm and meter of the poem and give it the musical effect of spoken language. Although the poem does not rhyme, Frost was still able to find words that harmonize well together. For example, line nine ending with “mean” and line ten ending with “made”. The end words don’t rhyme but they have a similar sound when spoken.

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