Question

Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."

I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
What does the phrase "one on a side" mean?

Answer 1

In Robert Frost's 'Mending Wall,' the phrase 'one on a side' means that each person is responsible for the stones on their side, much like players in a game. This reflects the poem's theme of maintaining boundaries in human relationships.

The phrase "one on a side" from the poem 'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost suggests an imagery of a game where there are only two participants, one for each team or side. The activity of mending the wall is likened to a simple outdoor game, with each person staying on their respective side of the wall, only interacting with the boulders that fall on their territory.

The phrase signifies the individual effort and responsibility each neighbor has towards maintaining their section of the wall. In a broader sense, this phrase reflects the poem's theme of boundaries and separation in human relationships. The maintenance of the wall mirrors the annual cycle of decay and reconstruction in human connections, as the poet contemplates the need for personal boundaries juxtaposed with the desire for community and connection.