Following the success of the book, Frost relocated to Gloucestershire, England, and directed publication of a second collection, North of Boston (1914). Frost soon published his first book of poetry, A Boy’s Will (1913), which received appreciative reviews. During this time, he met such literary figures as Ezra Pound, an American expatriate poet and champion of innovative literary approaches, and Edward Thomas, a young English poet associated with the Georgian poetry movement then popular in Great Britain.

In 1912, having been unable to interest American publishers in his poems, Frost moved his family to a farm in Buckinghamshire, England, where he wrote prolifically, attempting to perfect his distinct poetic voice.

Three years later, the Frosts’ eldest child died, an event that led to marital discord and that, some critics believe, Frost later addressed in his poem “Home Burial.” In 1897 Frost entered Harvard University as a special student, but left before completing degree requirements because of a bout with tuberculosis and the birth of his second child. He published a chapbook of poems at his own expense and contributed the poem “The Birds Do Thus” to the Independent, a New York magazine. After graduation, Frost briefly attended Dartmouth College, taught at grammar schools, worked at a mill, and served as a newspaper reporter. In 1892, Frost graduated from Lawrence High School and shared valedictorian honors with Elinor White, whom he married three years later. Author Biographyīorn in San Francisco, Frost was eleven years old when his father died and his family relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where his paternal grandparents lived. The neighbors can only maintain their relationship through conscious attention to the wall that separates them. Yet, disruption of these boundaries is probably inevitable, since the “frozen-ground-swell” that damages the wall, though it occurs annually, is never observed. Although individuals long to connect with one another, a connection that is too close or boundaries that are indistinct can be dangerous. His neighbor, on the other hand, strongly asserts his desire to maintain the wall, repeating the line, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Throughout the poem, the wall functions as a metaphor, indicating the necessity of simultaneous connection and separation between human beings. Although the speaker of the poem claims to believe the wall is unnecessary, he is clearly ambivalent about its presence, since he also initiates the repair.

Each spring, they cooperate in repairing the damage the winter weather has caused to it. First published in Robert Frost’s second collection, North of Boston, in 1914, “Mending Wall” is a narrative poem that presents an encounter between two neighbors whose property line is marked by a stone fence.

Hidden by helen frost summary