“ Before I built a wall I'd ask to knowWhat I was walling in or walling out,And to whom I was like to give offence.Something there is that doesn't love a wall,That wants it down. ”
Robert Frost, Mending Wall (1914). copy citation
| Author | Robert Frost |
|---|---|
| Source | Mending Wall |
| Topic | offence wall |
| Date | 1914 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | in "North of Boston" |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/North_of_Boston/Mending_Wall |
Context
“He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: "Why do they make good neighbours? 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 offence. 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.” source
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: "Why do they make good neighbours? 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 offence. 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.” source
Meaning and analysis
