Question

Read the following excerpt from the poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost:

I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
Which best describes the effect of the poem's word choice on its meaning?

Answer 1

The words "an old-stone savage armed" conveys the speaker's view that building a wall is primitive.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to a different source, these are the options that come with this question:

• The speaker suggests that the man seems fearful or he wouldn't be arming himself with stones in the dark.
• The speaker compares the "shade of trees" to the darkness of night.
• The words "bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top" convey the speaker's view of the man as angry.
• The words "an old-stone savage armed" conveys the speaker's view that building a wall is primitive.

In this passage, the author wants to convey the idea that building a wall is a primitive idea. Frost believes that it is possible for neighbours to get along calmly, without the need for a wall. The desire to be separated in order to avoid conflict strikes him as uncivilized. He conveys this feeling through the use of the phrase "an old-stone savage armed."