STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE POEM “MENDING WALL” BY ROBERT FROST

ABSTRACT: The primary goal of this study is to analyse Robert Frost's

renowned poem "Mending Wall" stylistically. Although there is a great deal of work on the literary
interpretation of this poem, there isn't much on its style. The current research is an attempt to do so,
and it focuses on the poem's stylistic characteristics. Robert Frost is a symbolic poet, whose poetry
contains allegorical meaning underneath the surface. To grasp the underlying meanings of the poem
'Mending Wall,' a full stylistic analysis was carried out on phonological, graphological, morphological,
syntactic, and semantic levels. Frost used a variety of literary devices to express the idea of
contemporary man's isolation, including alliteration, assonance, metaphor, simile, personification,
imagery, and symbolism. Human beings have been separated by man-made boundaries such as racial,
social, national, and ideological ones. Frost promotes the idea that nature is opposed to such barriers
and attempts to demolish them, forcing humans to re-evaluate the validity of such limits in the modern
era. This research will aid literary readers, professors, and students in comprehending the poem on a
language level, as well as understanding the poet's intended message hidden behind the written
discourse.

KEYWORDS:

Linguistics, stylistic devices, morphological syntactic, semantics.

1. INTRODUCTION:
In a literary work, Leech (1969) defined style as the use of specific structures, patterns, and
sequencing of language materials. Short and Leech (1981) define style as "a method of
communicating thoughts and ideas to readers through the use of specific words." Individual
styles vary, as does the context in which they are employed (Whales, 1983). In addition, it is a
unique and distinctive portrayal of the same scenario and theme. To completely comprehend
the author's work, it is necessary to study the author's style. Robert Frost is a poet from New
England's North Shore. Yankee identities become symbolic representations of universal human
nature in his country region north of Boston, which provides as a backdrop for his poems. His
characters' emotions and thoughts can be interpreted in a variety of ways. His seemingly simple
style is enigmatic and sophisticated, containing multiple layers of significance. To grasp Frost's
point of view, it is vital to be familiar with his distinct style. Frost employed alliteration,
consonance, metaphors, simile, and hyperbole to stress the theme of good and bad, life and
death, according to Abdul Bari and Summara's (2014) stylistic analysis of "The Onset." Arooj,
Bushra, and Samia (2014) conducted another study in this area to show Frost's style in "Bereft."
It looked at how the author used stylistic elements including nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
rhyming schemes, and images to develop themes like loneliness, mental turmoil, optimism, and
nature's unique behaviour. Frost believed that poetry should focus on everyday experiences
that are expressed in unique ways (Frost Friends, 2004).

The current research looks at the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost, which is likewise based
on the poet's own personal experience. In 1914, Frost's second volume of poems, "North of
Boston," included this poem. The battle between tradition and modernity is portrayed in this
 powerful ballad. This study will concentrate on the stylistic levels of phonology, morphology,
syntactic, and semantics.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW:
Cuddon (1998) defined style as a literary work's distinguishing way of expression. Harmon
(2006) defines style as "the combination of the author's personality and the message that he or
she wishes to express." In their writings, authors employ a variety of figurations, which
distinguish their styles. According to Ogunsiji (2000), figurative elements help readers
understand the author's intended meanings and elevate his style. It is essentially a connotative
inference based on which an author's work is evaluated ( Balogun ,1996.349). Stylistics, a field
that emerged at the close of the twentieth century, studies all figurative meanings
(Freeman,1971). Widdowson defined stylistics as the study of a text in terms of its linguistic
structure (1975,p.3). Many scholars believe that Frost's poetry makes extensive use of stylistic
elements. In Frost's poetry, coordinating conjunctions are used frequently, according to Kaplan
(2007). The poetry of Robert Frost is beautiful. Frost's poetry is a perfect emulation of everyday
New England dialect and cadence (Everything2, 2001). Frost (1923) stated that all of his poetry is
a parody of genuine speech (p.28). His poems are short and sweet, yet they are packed with
knowledge. Frost's lyrical style was described as "gnomic" by Schndeider (1931) because of the
complexity of his thoughts (p.269). Critics praise him for his distinct style, which keeps his poems
alive and well (Gerber,1982). As a result, stylistic study is required to comprehend Frost's
poetry, which has already been done in many of his poems. Khurram, Bari, and Sumera used
stylistic analysis to show how Frost uses style elements to convey profound meanings in his
poem "The Road Not Taken." Frost, according to Abdul Bari (2014), uses figures of speech such
as metaphors, similes, and symbolism to make a significant effect on the reader. It establishes a
complex relationship between literary text's intended and communicated meanings. The stylistic
analysis can help to clear up this ambiguity in interpretation (Bari & Summara, 2014). As a result,
the purpose of this research is to look at Frost's poem "Mending Wall" on a stylistic level.

This research looked at a) the stylistic devices used in Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" and
b) how stylistic elements contributed to the poem's construction and meaning.

3. METHODOLOGY:
The current study is exploratory in nature and qualitative. The stylistic levels of phonological,
graphological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic analysis were used to study Frost's poem
"Mending Wall."

4. ANALYSIS:

4.1 Phonological Level : According to Lodge (2009), phonology refers to a language's

sound system. Alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, monophthongs, and diphthongs
are some of the phonological devices that can be used.

4.1.1 Alliteration :
 The repetition of starting consonant sounds in adjacent words within the same line of poetry.
The /s/ sound is repeated in the second and third lines of the current poem, as in "send and
swell" and "spill and sun." Furthermore, "What I was walling in or walling out" uses the /w/
sound. Frost uses alliteration to give the poem a melodic and powerful tone.

4.1.2 Assonance :

The repetition of similar vowel sounds in surrounding words of a line of poem is known as
assonance. The /a/ sound is repeated in the third line in the words "makes" and "gaps," as well
as in the fourth line in the words "can" and "pass." In the fifth line, the /e/ sound appears again
in the words "after" and "them," and /ee/ appears in "maintain the wall between us." The /o/
sound appears in most lines, such as "not and stone," "neighbour know beyond," "some and
loaves," and "no cows." The poet uses the method of assonance to produce occasional internal
rhyme because the poem does not follow any certain rhyming system.

4.1.3 Monophthongs :

Monophthongs are pure vowel sounds like / ɪ, i:, e , æ, ʌ, ə , ɜ:, ɑ:, ɒ, ɔ:, ʊ, u:/
In “Mending wall Frost has frequently utilized monophthongs to produce pleasing sound effect.
1:/ɑ:/ sound in wall, pass, balls, are and want.
2: /æ / sound in that, make, gaps, can, made,
3:/e/ sound in send, swell, left, let, set, spell, and tell, well.
/ɪ/ sound in thing, it, rabbit, hill, spring, built.
/i:/ sound in mean, seen, meet, keep, between, need, trees, eat.

4.2 Graphological Level :

The graphological level refers to the entire writing system. It was defined by Leech (1969) as the
use of punctuation, line spacing, and paragraphing in written discourse. The construction and
layout of a poem are examined as part of graphological analysis. Graphological analysis includes
capitalization, punctuation, spacing, contraction, and stanza forms.
4.2.1 Dramatic Monologue :

Mending Wall is a forty-five-line dramatic lyric with no stanza breaks.

4.2.2 Blank Verses :

This poem is written in iambic pentameter with no rhyme scheme.

4.2.3 Formal Style Of Writing :

Frost used a strict formal and organised writing style, beginning each line with a capital letter,
representing thought breaks with commas, separating compound sentences with a semicolon,
and putting a full stop at the end of each sense. To maintain the rhyme scheme, only one
contracted form "doesn't" has been used throughout the poem.

4.3 Morphological Level :

Morphology is a linguistic level related with word production, according to Kirsten (2005).
Compounding, mixing, clipping, backformation, acronyms, coinage, borrowing, and alteration
are some of the most common ways for words to be created. Except for a few complex terms,
Frost's poem has primarily monosyllabic and disyllabic words.

4.3.1 Monosyllabic Words:

That, love, wall, send, make, gap, can, pass, thing, come, sun, work, left, find, hill, walk, day,
meet, line, keep, go, some, ball, stay, kind, side, need, eat, good, put, head, like, give, hand.

4.3.2 Disyllabic Words :

Something, repair, hunter, rabbit, mending, neighbor, beyond, fallen, nearly, balance, finger,
orchard, under, fences, notion, before, rather.

4.3.3 Compound Words :

Outdoor, handling, Frozen-ground-swell, mending-time and old-stone.

4.4 Syntactic Level :

Syntax refers to how words are put together to produce
sentences. This poem, like most of Frost's poetry, is autobiographical, based on the poet's own
personal experience. It depicts Frost's tense relationship with his New Hampshire neighbour,
Napoleon Guay. As a result, Frost has employed the personal pronouns "I" to express his own
participation in the activity of mending the wall, while the third personal pronoun "he"
represents his neighbour. Frost's poetry is notable for its frequent use of coordinating
conjunctions, as "And" appears more than seven times in this poem.

4.4.1 Use Of Compound Sentences :

When a sentence contains two clauses, it is referred to as a compound sentence. In this poetry,
compound phrases are used in the following ways:
Two independent clauses or sentences are joined in a compound sentence. The following are
examples of compound sentences found in this poetry.
1: 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.
2: He is all pine, and I am apple orchard.
 4.4.2 Use Of Enjambment :

Enjambment is the extension of a thought to next line of verse without any pause. Frost‟s
application of this figure of speech indicates profusion of ideas in his mind. Like
“And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good fences make good neighbours”. Another example of enjambment is:
“I see him there, bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top In each hand, like an old-stone
savage armed”.

4.5 Semantic Level :

The study of meanings is referred to as semantics. Authors use figures of speech in their writings to add
structure and express significant meaning. Semantic analysis entails delving into these figures of speech,
which play a role in both structure and meaning. The poem's main figures of speech are discussed
below.

4.5.1 Metaphor :

Frost uses the metaphor "Hunters" to refer to anyone who works hard to achieve something, but he
uses it explicitly to refer to the narrator and readers. He compares the task of fixing a wall to a "outdoor
game."

4.5.2 Personification :

Personification is a
creative expression in which non-human, non-living, and abstract ideas are given human characteristics.
The narrator has an apple orchard, whereas his neighbour owns pine cone trees. The next-door
neighbour has insisted on erecting a fence between their houses. On the contrary, the narrator tries to
persuade him that a wall is unnecessary. My apple trees will never come across and consume the cones,
adds the narrator. The narrator has momentarily personified trees of apples in this graphic, since he
contends that trees will not cross the street to consume their neighbours' pine cones. Second, nature
has consigned the power of intention, which is unique to human beings, in the opening statement,
"something there is that doesn't love wall."

4.5.3 Symbolism :

Symbolism is a term used to describe a living or non-living object that

represents something else. Frost's symbols are simple in origin but complicated in understanding. In this
poetry, the word "wall" is utilised as a prominent symbol to represent national, social, economic, racial,
and emotional barriers that exist between mankind. Isolation is the result of such restrictions. In
addition, the wall depicts the generational divide that we face on a daily basis. The speaker and the
next-door neighbour are emblematic of tradition vs. modernization in this scene. The narrator, as a
representative of the younger generation, wishes to replace ancient views with new ones, while his
elderly neighbour clings to his father's convictions. Furthermore, the neighbour defends his traditional
viewpoint by claiming that "excellent fences make good neighbours."

4.5.4 Proverb :

A proverb is a short, well-known phrase that expresses truth or

wisdom. Each culture has its unique idioms that provide insight into its people's way of life. Proverbs are
the name given to these sayings. Through his real neighbour, Napoleon Guay's renowned aphorism
"Good fences make good neighbours," Frost illustrates the idea of Americans' autonomous way of life in
the poem "Mending Wall." This phrase is both a proverb and a paradox, as it contradicts with the
poem's very first line, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall."

4.5.5 Imagery :

Imagery is the verbal expression of a mental image. Frost's poetry are full
with rustic imagery that reveals the poet's geographic and cultural origins. Frost uses visual imagery in
"Mending Wall," such as "And some are loaves and some so nearly balls," and "He is all pine and I am
apple orchard."

4.5.6 Irony:

In the poem, Frost presents an ironic circumstance in

which two people (the narrator and his neighbour) come together to engage in an activity that divides
them from one another. All of this mending is for naught because the wall will be damaged again before
the next spring. They also don't have any animals that require physical borders to keep them from
wandering onto each other's property. The caustic tone of the narrator reflects his concern about the
current situation.

4.5.7 Simile :

Simile is a figurative language use in which two items are

compared using the terms "like" and "as." Frost used the comparison "like an old-stone savage armed"
to compare his neighbour to a stone-age barbarian.

4.5.8 Rhetorical Question :

Rhetorical question refers to an author's interrogative statement that does not require a response from
the reader. In his rhetorical inquiry "Why do they make excellent neighbours?" the narrator questions
the veracity of the traditional notion "Fences make good neighbours." A ratiocinative inquiry has also
been used by the speaker. For instance: Where are there cows? However, there are no cows in this area.
CONCLUSION :

The poem "Mending Wall" is a stylistically well-constructed dramatic

monologue in which Robert Frost discloses his ideas on traditional human-created boundaries,
according to a stylistic analysis. Frost tries in vain to persuade his neighbour to reconsider the traditional
notion of fences as necessary for maintaining good relations. Despite the narrator's best efforts, the
neighbour continues to follow his father's advice: "Good fences make good neighbours." The poet has
utilised a variety of stylistic methods, such as alliteration, assonance, simile, metaphors, personification,
imagery, and symbolism, to help him create the poem and elaborate on his concept. The poet's
repeated use of the word "and" expresses a plethora of justifications for his point of view in his thinking.
The author uses words like "something" and "Elves" to create an atmosphere of mystery and
consternation. "Why do they make nice neighbours?" he wonders sarcastically. Frost questions the
legitimacy of any walls that divide individuals. All social, national, political, and religious obstacles have
resulted in emotional tensions and feelings of loneliness among people, according to the findings of the
study.