The structure of the poem is also in a block form which is like a wall. It emphasizes on the ‘wall’ as a boundary between the two farms and also as a barrier between the people. The poem has a light mood which is evident when the poet says, ‘Stay where you are until our backs our turned’. It is also set in a playful atmosphere as we see that the writer compares the wall mending process to an outdoor game and he even says, ‘spring is the mischief in me’.
The tone in the beginning of the poem is mysterious, vague and ethereal which is evident from the following phrases, ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall’, ‘frozen ground swell’, ‘no has seen them made or heard them made’ and ‘spell’; it shows that the poet does not know who wants the wall or why do the barriers subsist in the relationships of people. It is as if the wall is a ghostly tool haunting relationships of people. Then the tone of the poet becomes casual and conversational with irritational undertones with the neighbor, ‘and on a day we meet…’, ‘to please the yelping dogs’ which shows that probably poem is written as the poet was thinking about it as it contains normal human characteristics of getting irritated while pondering for too long over something. By the middle of the poem, the tone is playful, impatient, childish and mischievous,’ Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’, ‘Oh, just another kind of outdoor game’,’ my apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines’; this is ironical to the questioning nature of the poem where the poet is really tensed about the existence of the wall as a barrier between people. Then it is frustrated and introspective, ‘He only says, Good fences make good neighbors’, which highlights poet’s contrasting view towards life as compared to his neighbor. And finally we see that the poem ends in disapproval, ‘He will not go behind his father's saying’ which shows that poet is really irritated by his neighbor’s nature but on a deeper context it shows that the poet does not agree with existence of wall between the farms or the barriers between the people in the society. Hence, we can say that the change in tones shown in the poem focus on the fact that it is the poet’s own views which are being presented in the poem and it is also to emphasize on the poem’s colloquial nature as usually humans when speaking generally go through various tone swings in their speech depending on the atmosphere surrounding them.
Robert Frost makes use of imagery as his tool to put through his ideas in the poem. The key image in the poem is the ‘wall’. The wall is a physical image as well as a metaphor. The physical wall separates the two neighbors. It is this wall which the poet and his neighbor are mending leading to the separation of their farms, ‘and set the wall between us’ and ironically it is the mending of this wall which brings both of them together during the mending process, ‘and we meet to walk the line between us’. On the other hand, wall is the symbol of the barrier between the people and in their relationships. It represents how two people deal with life in different ways.
He also uses imagery to show the setting of springtime, ‘spring mending time’. He uses images from nature like, ‘woods only and shades of trees’ and ‘apple orchard’ to focus on the fact that nature is a very vital part of life and it is the nature itself which does not like the wall or the barriers, the frozen- ground swell’. There are superstitious images as well in the poem, ‘elves’ and ‘spells’ which explore the fact that even god does not like barriers and therefore, the poet questions that when nobody wants the wall then why is present; the mystifying nature of the all. He uses metaphor,’ And some are loaves and some so nearly balls’ to compare the stones and boulders to bread loaves and balls which are difficult to be balanced.. It shows that wall is made up of such stuff which is will end up falling. Thus, it highlights the fact that the wall has no significance. He also says that the neighbor ‘moves in darkness’ which is again metaphoric for the nature of the neighbor who believes in his old age traditions. Another metaphor, ‘He is all pine and I am apple orchard’ signifies the differences between the poet and his neighbor in their approach to life. Pine as it is spiny and woody signifies a dull and dry life of the traditionalist neighbor whereas apple being juicy and fresh signifies a happy and jovial life of the poet who believes in no barriers. The simile in the poem, ‘Like an old-stone savage armed’ signifies the nature of the poet’ neighbor who is very stubborn and traditionalist and in this simile he compares the neighbor to a stone-age man with old values.
The poet also exploits sound effects in the poem to emphasize on the wall, the barriers in the society. He uses assonance, ‘What I was walling in or walling out’ and sibilance, ‘That sends the frozen-ground-swell’ to emphasize the wall which is the unwanted barrier between the poet and his neighbor from the viewpoint of the poet. Therefore, at the end we can say that the main idea being brought out by the poet is that the walls which exists as barriers between the people need to be broken down as he says, ‘Something there is that doesn't love a wall’
