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Frost wrote “Mending Wall” in blank verse, which is unrhymed iambic pentameter. (Recall that iambic pentameter refers to lines that consist of five iambs, where an iamb is a metrical foot with a da-DUM rhythm.) Iambic pentameter has long been the preferred meter for producing verse that approximates the cadences of ordinary speech. Iambic pentameter achieves this effect by being just long enough to avoid the sing-song quality of shorter lines and the more trudging rhythms of longer lines. Frost no doubt chose iambic pentameter for “Mending Wall” precisely because of its ability to render ordinary spoken language. After all, the poem’s speaker is an ordinary person who lives in the countryside and expresses himself in colloquial language. Frost’s use of iambic pentameter accommodates this colloquial speech so well that the reader might not initially notice the metrical pattern that undergirds the language. As a representative example, consider the poem’s opening sentence (lines 1–4):

Some-thing / there is / that does- / n’t love / a wall,
That sends / the fro- / zen-ground- / swell un- / der it,
And spills / the up- / per boul- / ders in / the sun;
And makes / gaps e- / ven two / can pass / a-breast.

Close examination of these opening lines reveals that they are, for the most part, strictly iambic. Frost admits only two deviations. The first is the opening word, “Some-thing,” which is a trochee (stressed–unstressed). The second occurs in the fourth line, which contains a spondee (stressed–stressed). Otherwise, the lines maintain a regular yet unobtrusive iambic rhythm.

The meter of “Mending Wall” continues in a fairly regular manner throughout the rest of the poem, with variations here and there. However minor these variations may seem, examining them carefully can often prove illuminating. As just one example, consider the way Frost uses meter to contrast the competing views of the speaker and his neighbor. These views are represented in the two proverbial expressions that both get repeated twice over the course of the poem. We’ve already encountered the first expression, which initially appears in the opening line, and which repeats again in lines 35–36:

Some-thing / there is / that does- / n’t love / a wall,
That wants / it down.

It’s notable how the first line here both begins and ends with a stressed beat, which makes the utterance seem strong and authoritative. This feeling is further cemented by the two iambs that extend the thought into the next line, the stresses of which powerfully emphasize “wants” and “down.” By contrast, consider the expression spoken by the neighbor in lines 27 and 45:

Good fen- / ces make / good neigh / bors.

This expression begins and ends with an unstressed syllable, making the statement seem weak and clichéd. In this way, Frost makes sophisticated use of meter to suggest that the speaker holds the stronger position. Or at least, he thinks he does.

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