stylistic analysis in robert frost’s “mending wall” · 2020. 8. 5. · entitled “mending...
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STYLISTIC ANALYSIS IN ROBERT FROST’S
“MENDING WALL”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KARTIKA NOVA FURYA ANGGADEWI
Student Number: 164214108
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2020
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STYLISTIC ANALYSIS IN ROBERT FROST’S
“MENDING WALL”
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
KARTIKA NOVA FURYA ANGGADEWI
Student Number: 164214108
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA
YOGYAKARTA
2020
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“Love All, trust few, Do wrong to none”
-William Shakespeare
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This thesis is dedicated to myself,
family, my partner who always
supports me, and all my friends.
_ _ _ _ _
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................. iii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iv
STATETMENT OF ORIGINALITY .................................................................. v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH . vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................... ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... x
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. xii
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................... xiiiii
ABSTRAK ......................................................................................................... xiviv
CHAPTER I ........................................................................................................... 1
A. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1
B. Problem Formulation .................................................................................... 4
C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................. 4
D. Definition of Terms ...................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER II ......................................................................................................... 7
A. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 7
B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................................... 13
1. Stylistics .............................................................................................. 133
2. Phonological Level ............................................................................. 144
3. Graphological Level ............................................................................. 18
4. Grammatical Level ............................................................................... 19
5. Semantics Level .................................................................................. 211
C. Review of Related Background…………………………………………...24
D. Theoretical Framework ............................................................................. 299
CHAPTER III ..................................................................................................... 31
A. Object of the Study ..................................................................................... 31
B. Approach of the Study ................................................................................ 32
C. Method of the Study .................................................................................... 33
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1. Data Collection ..................................................................................... 33
2. Data Analysis........................................................................................ 34
CHAPTER IV .................................................................................................... 366
A. Language Features in poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost ................. 36
1. Phonological Level ............................................................................ 366
2. Graphological Level ............................................................................ 46
3. Grammatical Level .............................................................................. 49
4. Semantic Level .................................................................................... 51
B. Meaning Revealed from the Stylistic Features in Frost’s “Mending Wall”
………………………………………………………………………….54
CHAPTER V ..................................................................................................... 667
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 70
APPENDICS ........................................................................................................ 73
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LIST OF TABLES
No. Table Page
1 Table 1. Alliterations that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 37
2 Table 2. Assonances that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 39
3 Table 3. Consonances that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 42
4 Table 4. Rhymes that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 44
5 Table 5. Contractions that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 46
6 Table 6. Direct Speech that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 47
7 Table 7. Dashes that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 48
8 Table 8. Tenses that are found in the poem “Mending Wall” 49
9 Table 9. Rhetorical devices that are found in the poem “Mending
Wall”
51
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ABSTRACT
ANGGADEWI, KARTIKA NOVA FURYA. (2020). STYLISTIC ANALYSIS
IN ROBERT FROST’S “MENDING WALL”. Yogayakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Literary work always has a meaning, especially poem. Through the
meaning, particular issues can be discussed into deeper analysis. Therefore, for that
reason, the researcher focuses on the stylistic analysis in Robert Frost’s poem
entitled “Mending Wall”. Stylistic analysis is used to find out the language features
that exist in the poems and establish the meaning that can be obtained from the
language features.
There are two research problems in this research: What are language
features used in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” and How are the use of language
features reveal the meaning of the poem. The first problem is answered using
stylistics approach. The poems were analyzed based on four language levels:
phonology, graphology, grammatical, and semantics. The second problem was
answered by connecting the language features with the poem.
The findings in the research are the answers of the research problems. In
phonological level, alliteration, consonance, assonance, and eye-rhyme are used to
highlight important words. In Graphological level, contractions are used to keep the
number of syllables on each line, punctuations: period, coma, semi colon, and colon
are used to separate lines, and apostrophe is used to indicate direct speech. In
grammatical level present tense is used the most to give the feeling of the poem. In
semantic level, metaphor, simile, symbol, and imagery carry the poem’s meaning.
The four language features are link to each other to deliver the meaning of
the poem that is conflict and relationship in human’s life. From the four language
features, semantic features contribute the most in constructing the meaning.
Keywords: stylistic analysis, language features, mending wall
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ABSTRAK
ANGGADEWI, KARTIKA NOVA FURYA. 2020. STYLISTIC ANALYSIS IN
ROBERT FROST’S “MENDING WALL. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Karya sastra selalu memiliki arti, terutama puisi. Melalui karya sastra, isu-
isu-isu tertentu dapat dibahas dengan analisis yang lebih dalam. Karena itu,
penelitian ini berfokus pada analisis stilistika dari puisi milik Robert Frost yang
berjudul “Mending Wall”. Analisis stilistika digunakan untuk mengetahui fitur-fiur
yang ada pada puisi dan menentukan arti yang bisa didapatkan dari fitur bahasa
tersebut.
Terdapat dua permasalahan dalam penelitian ini: apa fitur bahasa yang
digunakan dalam puisi Robert Frost yang berjudul “Mending Wall” dan bagaimana
penggunaan fitur bahasa untuk mengungkapkan makna dari poem tersebut.
Permasalahan pertama dijawab dengan menggunakan pendekatan stilistika. Puisi
tersebut dianalisa berdasarkan empat tingkatan bahasa: fonologi, grafologi,
gramatikal, dan semanik. Permasalahan kedua dijawab dengan menghubungkan
fitur-fitur bahasa tersebut dengan puisinya.
Penemuan-penemuan di penelitian ini adalah jawaban dari permasalahan-
permasalahan di atas. Pada tingkatan fonologi, aliterasi, konsonasi, asonansi, dan
eye-rhyme digunakan untuk menyoroti kata-kata penting. Pada tingkatan grafologi,
singkatan digunakan untuk mempertahankan jumlah suku kata pada setiap baris,
tanda baca: titik, koma, titik koma, dan titik dua digunakan untuk memisahkan
baris, dan tanda kutip digunakan untuk menandai kalimat langsung. Pada tingkatan
gramatikal bentuk waktu masa ini digunakan paling banyak untuk memberikan
perasaan dalam puisi tersebut kepada pembaca. Pada tingkatan semantik, metafora
simile, symbol, dan tamsil membawa makna dari puisi tersebut.
Keempat fitur bahasa tersebut terhubung satu sama lain untuk
menyampaikan makna dari puisi tersebut yakni permasalahan dan hubungan dalam
hidup manusia. Dari keempat fitur bahasa tersebut, semantic fitur berkontribusi
paling banyak dalam membentuk makna puisi tersebut.
Keywords: stylistic analysis, language features, mending wall
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Literary work is self-expression, which deals with words as the root to
create a picture and an idea. According to Moddy, literary works have four
functions, they are 1) to train four language skills; 2) to add knowledge about human
life experience such as customs, religion, culture, and so on. It develops character
buildings to the readers or audience; 3) to develop creation and feeling; 4) to support
character building (1984, p. 5).
Creative writing is one of the genres in literary works. The examples of
creative writing are novels, short stories, and poems. Since creative writing has no
boundaries. Creative writing usually represents the author’s point of view of certain
events, for example, William Blake’s poetry. Blake used to live in the Industrial
Revolution; the Industrial Revolution was a great change in history. However,
Blake felt that Industrial Revolution caused more harm than good. During the
Industrial Revolution, children were forced to work as labors and there was a high
intensity of discrimination happened. Blake expressed his hatred toward the
Industrial Revolution through his book’s “Song of Experience” which bluntly tells
about the harm caused by Industrial Revolution. Literary work also reflects the
author’s experience. A poem entitled “Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos
William is one of the examples. William was a doctor in northern New Jersey. One
of his patients that suffered from serious disease became an inspiration to write the
poem.
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Studying literary works is necessary to get a better understanding about
the works and give an appreciation to the authors. Literary works can be studied
from its style. Authors have their style of writing to convey particular meaning or
interpretation to the reader. According to Wales, style refers to the perceived
distinctive manner of expression in writing or speaking (2011, p. 397). However,
style in linguistics is how the author or writer way of thinking in assembling the
words in literary works. Style in linguistics explains that the language of poetry has
its characteristics such as it may flout the grammatical rule, it has a particular sound
pattern, and it has unique graphology.
In the literary text, stylistics aims at proving how language style can
construct meanings, so that appreciation of literary works is not merely based on
assumption (Isti'anah, 2017). Therefore, stylistics is applied to analyzed literary
works. According to Widdownson, stylistics is the study of literary discourse from
a linguistic orientation (1975). Addition, stylistics defined as the analysis of
distinctive expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect
(Verdonk, 2002, p. 4). In short, stylistics is the study of style scientifically. It is
added “Style leads to the structure, patterns, and arrangement of words to form
sentences in spoken or written form” (Leech, 1989). In conclusion, stylistics is an
analysis of style linguistically through the structures and words arrangement to find
out its purpose and effect.
In this research, the researcher applies four language features of analysis.
To be specific, this research aims to analyze the phonological level, graphological
level, grammatical level, and semantic level of a poem and the use of those features
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to reveal the meaning of the poem. The poem observed in the study was written by
Robert Frost entitled “Mending Wall”.
Robert Lee Frost, abbreviated as Robert Frost, was an American poet born
in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. He was known for his realistic and
depictions of rural life and his command on American colloquial speech. Frost was
the only poet who received Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry four times. One of his best
works is a poem entitled “Mending Wall”. A blank verse poem that uses
enjambment, incomplete syntax at the end of line. The poem was written in 1914;
it is about two rural neighbors that one spring day meet to walk along the wall that
separates their properties and repair when it need to be repaired. The speaker of the
poem the one who questioning the existence of a wall. However, the neighbors were
conservative and it looks like they do not have time for nonsense. Robert Frost with
his creativity invites the readers to be criticize about the poem because it is not
merely tells about a story, but the poem “Mending Wall” has a deeper meaning
which related into conflict and relationship in human’s life.
Two reasons have motivated the researcher considered the poem of Robert
Frost interesting as the object of study. Firstly, it is because of the essential element
of Frost’s style. Frost holds a distinctive position in handling the stylistic devices.
Abdul Bari and Summara (2014) stylistically analyzed one of the Frost’s poems
“The Onset” and concluded that Frost is unique in using stylistic devices like
imagery, simile, metaphor, hyperbole and sound devices to show the theme of his
poem.
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The present study will analyze Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” through the
language features to reveal the deeper meaning of the poem. Therefore, this research
uses a specific study as theoretical backgrounds. Stylistic approach is used in this
present study. Stylistics in this research aims to show the language features used in
the poem “Mending Wall” and find out how those features used to reveal the
meaning of the poem.
Problem Formulation
Two problems are discussed in the study. The problems are presented as
the following:
1. What are language features used in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”?
2. How are the use of language features reveal the meaning of the poem?
Objectives of the Study
Two objectives will be analyzed in this research. The first goal is to
describe the language features that are used in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”
poem. There are some stylistic features found in this poem. Those can be seen
through the phonological level, graphological level, grammatical level and semantic
level. The research aims to find out the language features that are found in the poem.
The second goal is to know the use of the language features to reveal the meaning
of the poem “Mending Wall”. The research aims to observe the language features
used by Robert Frost in the poem “Mending Wall” and the usage of the language
features to reveal the meaning of the poem “Mending Wall”.
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Definition of Terms
This section will clarify the definition of terms that are applied in the
research. The terms are overwhelmed stylistic, language features, and poem. The
first terminology is stylistics. According to Leech and Short, stylistics defined as
the linguistic study of style (2007). Therefore, stylistics can be said as a branch in
linguistics, which study, about style in language text.
The second terminology is language features. Features, as described in
linguistics, is a term used to refer to any typical or noticeable property of spoken or
written language (Crystal, 2008). Therefore, language features can be defined as a
term used to refer the properties in literary work. Stated by Simpson, there are seven
levels of language features that can be studied, those are phonology, graphology,
morphology, syntax/grammar, lexical analysis, semantic, and pragmatics (2004, p.
5). All features in language work together to create specific meaning of a poem. In
short, language features are functioned as ways for authors to deliver the messages
of the literary works they have made.
The third terminology is poem., Poem is a piece of writing in which the
words are chosen for their sound and images they suggest, not just for their obvious
meaning. The words are arranged in separate lines, usually with a repeated rhythm,
and often the lines rhyme at the end (2015, p. 1146). Added, poem is a piece of
poetry communicating to the reader the sense of a complete experience (Webster's
New Collegiate Dictionary , 1981, p. 879). Poem is creative writing. Therefore, it
can be said that a poem is one of the literary works whose role is as the
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representation of what inside someone’s mind. Poem delivers certain ideas and
messages from the writer to be understood by the reader.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The following sub-chapters cover review of related studies, review of
related theories, and theoretical framework. The review and theoretical are
beneficial to give some basis for the analysis in the subsequent chapters. Previous
studies by other researchers in stylistics are shown in review of related studies to
give the understanding that the present study is beneficial. Review of related
theories will review some theories that are relevant to the study. In the theoretical
framework, it will explain the contribution of the theories and reviews in solving
the problem of the present study.
A. Review of Related Studies
There are five studies from the other researchers that contribute to the
present study. Those studies will help the researchers to develop ideas and give a
better understanding of the topic of the present study.
The first study entitled Stylistic Analysis of the poem “The Onset” by
Robert Frost by Bari Khan, Raffique, and Saddique (2014). There are two analysis
in this study. First, the study aims to analyze the language features in the poem “The
Onset”. Second, it aims to elucidate the theme of the poem through its diction,
imagery and sound devices. The analysis will help to comprehend the basic themes;
those are conflict between good and evil, pessimism and optimism, and life and
death. To analyze the data, the researchers use stylistic approach since stylistics is
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capable to be applied in literary text. The researcher focuses on analyzing the data
through semantics and phonological. First is the poetic devices; those are
symbolism, imagery, simile, metaphor, and hyperbole. Second is the sound devices;
those are alliteration, consonance, assonance, and rhyme scheme.
The contribution of the study to the present study lies on the analysis in
revealing the deeper meaning of the poem. In semantics level, Frost uses symbols
to represent ideas indirectly. In the poem “night” symbolizes as sadness, “dark
woods” symbolizes the evil and mystery of life, and “snow” symbolizes as death.
Other than imagery is also used in the poem to represent sense of experience
through language. Frost uses two comparison in the poem, simile and metaphor.
Simile is an indirect comparison where metaphor is direct comparison. Last, Frost
uses hyperbole to exaggerate of detail truth. In phonological level, alliteration,
consonance, and assonance are found to give the harmonious in the poem. The
rhyme in the poem consists of different rhyme scheme in each stanza. In conclusion,
the poem “The Onset” is not merely talk about the seasons but it is has deeper
meaning about life and death. The theme of the poem can be foreground through
the diction, symbols, imagery, and metaphors.
This study and the present study both share the similarities, which is the
data and the analysis. Both studies use poem by Robert Frost and analyze the
language features of a poem. However, this study only focus on two language
features that are semantic level and phonological level, meanwhile the present study
discusses the data from four language levels; phonological level, graphological
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level, grammatical level, and semantic level. Therefore, the present study adds
development to this study.
The second study is entailed Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Hasmi, Asim Mahmood, and Ilyas
Mahmood (2019). The purpose of the study is to find out the style of Robert Frost
poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. The researchers focus on the use
of language features in the poem. Those are phonetic level, phonological level,
graphitic level, grammatical level, and lexical/semantic level.
There are two focuses in this study. The first is to find out the language
features of Robert Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. Second is to
identify how the language features contribute to construct the theme of the poem.
The contribution of this research lies in the analysis. The researcher has analyzed
each word individually based on a phonetic, phonological, graphitic, lexico-
syntactic, and grammatical level. In phonetic, the researchers analyze euphonic,
cacophony, assonance, consonance, alliteration, rhyming scheme, and tone
modulation. In graphitic, the researchers analyzed the writing style of Frost. In
lexico-syntactic, the researchers analyzed the choice of words that are used. In
denotation of poem, the researchers analyze the figure of speech. Last grammatical
level, the researchers focus on the use of part of speech: pronoun, noun, verb, and
adjective.
In result, from phonetic level, Frost uses assonance, consonance,
alliteration in the poem to create a harmonious and pleasant effect. The rhyming
scheme in poem is unique which is aababbcbccdcdddd with each word has two
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syllables. Tone modulation occurs to catch the attention of readers to focus on the
imagery. In lexico-syntactic the analysis highlights that Frost uses polysemy
(natural layer) to choose the words. Frost also uses Anglo-Saxon vocabulary that
shows the brevity and correctness. Last, Frost shows the cleaver use of antonym
such as lovely-dark and woods-frozen lake. The denotation, Frost uses symbolism
to support the meaning of the poem. Some of the symbols are woods symbolizes as
nature, snow and sleep symbolizes as death, and village symbolizes as society and
civilization. Other than that, Frost uses metaphor and personification. The last
feature is grammatical level, Frost uses first person pronoun many times, which
shows the personal involvement of the author’s life experience. He also uses
pronoun “He” and “His” to show the power of God. Continuously, Frost uses many
nouns to differentiate images and symbols. The verbs in the poem are divided into
four categories; those are mental cognitive verb, behavioral process verb, material
process verb, and verbal process verb. In conclusion, Frost uses combination of
different stylistic devices to make the poem lyrical. The symbols in the poem help
to show atmosphere and environment in the poem are very terrible; it creates sense
of death and despair.
Hasmi’s study and this study share similarities and differences. Both
studies are similar in terms of the data: they analyze poem as their data with the
same author. Both study also analyze the language features of poem. However, the
study of Hasmi tries to know the theme of the poem through the language features.
Meanwhile in present study, the researcher tries to observe the purpose of the
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language features to reveal the meaning of the poem. Therefore, the studies are
different in terms of the use of language features.
The third study is written by Xenia entitled A Stylistic Analysis of Maya
Angelou’s “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird” (2015). The researcher focuses on two
objectives. The first is to describe what language features are employed to develop
the themes in the poem “Still I Rise” and “Caged Bird”. The second is to find out
the different language features used in each poem to develop the same theme that
is about Black oppression and survival.
The researcher analyzes four language levels that are phonological level,
graphological level, grammatical level, and lexical level. The contribution of this
study for the present study lies on the analysis. In phonological level, the language
feature can be seen through rhyme and sound pattering (alliteration, assonance, and
consonance). In graphological level, there is inconsistency of numbering lines in
stanzas. In grammatical level, the researcher finds different clauses, parallel
structures, and prepositional phrases in both poems that deliver the theme of black
oppression. In lexical level, both poems have various repeated pronouns, words
choice, metaphors, and similes. In result, the researcher finds out that both poems
use different language features to develop the same theme; black oppression and
survival.
Both Xenia’s study and present study use poem as the data and stylistics
as the approach. The difference lies on the analysis of the poem. Xenia’ study tries
to find out different language features that develop the same theme, while the
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present study tries to analyze the meaning of poem through the language features.
However, Xenia’s study help the present study in the analysis of language features.
The fourth study is entitled Stylistic Analysis of William Wordsworth’s
Poem: “I Wandered Lonely as a Could” by Hidayati (2015). The research focuses
on language style used by Wiliam Wordsworth. There are two purposes in the
research, first to describe stylistic elements appear in William Wordsworth’s poem:
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. Second, to explain the foregrounded on syntax
patterns appearing in William Wordsworth’s poem: “I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud”. The analysis uses the stylistic approach that covers lexico-syntactic
patterns, figurative language, phonology, graphology, morphology, and
foregrounded on syntax patterns appear in the poem.
The analysis of graphology can be seen through the capitalization in the
twenty-four lines. It is a reflection of versification which was salient to poetry in
the earliest form. In the phonological features, it is concluded that William uses
rhyme to make the poem pattering which is ababcc. The rhyme uses a one-syllable
word. In morphology, William uses Affixes in some words. From the lexico-
syntactic, it is found that the poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Could” mostly uses
noun. Hyperbole, symbolism, personification, simile, repetition, metaphor, and
antithesis are found as the figurative language. In the foregrounded on syntax, it is
found that William likes to use a noun related to nature and human to convey the
meaning of the poem to the readers.
The benefit of this study for the present study lies on the analysis. This
study works on the same field with the present study that is stylistics. The different
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of this study and the present study is the second problem formulation. Hidayati’s
study tries to explain the syntax patterning in the poem, while the present study tries
to reveal the meaning of the poem from the stylistic features that are used.
B. Review of Related Theories
This part will introduce the theories that are necessarily applied throughout
this study, which are stylistics, phonology, graphology, grammar, and semantic.
1. Stylistics
Stylistics is a literary discourse from a linguistic alignment. According to
Widdownson, stylistics is the study of literary discourse from a linguistic
orientation (1975). Added, stylistics is the analysis of distinctive expression in
language and the description of its purpose and effect (Verdonk, 2002). Therefore,
it can be concluded that stylistics is the study of literary discourse in language and
its purposes linguistically.
There are many language levels that can be observed in stylistics,
especially poems. A poet makes his/her style in writing poems to distinguish
him/her from other poets. The style can be seen through the diction, word patterns,
punctuations, the use of figurative language, and so on. Style also function as a
bridge to convey a particular meaning to the reader. Style applied with a specific
purpose. For example, a poet wants to deliver the hidden meaning of some words
or lines in the poem which can give a new meaning of the whole poem compare to
the explicit one, he or she can use the semantic features by using figurative
language. Applying stylistic features in literary works gives certain interpretation
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and effect to the readers when they read the text. Stylistics is applicable in both
literary and non-literary texts. Therefore, it is always possible to analyze style in
language.
According to Simpson’s language level theory (2004), there are four levels
of language features that can be applied stylistic study. Those are phonological
level, graphological level, grammatical level, and semantic level. Phonology is the
sound of spoken language; the way words are pronounced. Graphology is the
pattern of writing language. Grammar is the way words are combined with others
to form phrases and sentences. Semantics is the meaning of words and sentences.
2. Phonological Level
Phonology is the study of the sound system. Simpson defines phonology
as encompassing the meaning potential of the sounds of spoken language (2004, p.
6). In written text, the formation of the word creates particular sound depends on
which part one sounds link to others. In the poem, words create a sound pattern
which has meaning. The sound pattern can be found in forms of alliteration,
assonance, consonance, and rhymes that are studied in the phonological level.
a. Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
in the same line of poetry (Hashmi, 2019). According to Bradford, alliteration is the
repetition of the cluster of similar consonant sounds within individual lines and
across sequences of lines (2005 , p. 16). It can be concluded that alliteration occurs
when the same initial sounds repeated in the same line in the stanza of the poem.
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Alliteration uses to emphasize particular feelings, to mirror the ideas or feeling that
is described, and to enhance the beauty of writing. The example of alliteration in
the poem can be seen in Robert Frost’s “Birches”, “As the stir cracks and crazes
their enamel”. In that line, the sound /cr/ are repeated. The sounds /cr/ similar to the
sound of ice breaking and trees which knocking against each other. In that, Frost
tries to present the feeling of nature not only through written but in spoken.
b. Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of the vowel sound. According to Bradford,
assonance is the repetition of clusters of similar vowel within individual lines and
across sequences of line (Bradford, Stylistics , 2005 , p. 16). Assonance occurs
when the vowel sound is repeated in the line of the poem in the stanza. The example
of assonance is the poem “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth.
“A host, of golden daffodils”
The vowel sound /o/ repeated three times in the line.
c. Consonance
Consonance and alliteration are similar. In the alliteration, the initial
consonant sound is repeated. Meanwhile, consonance is repetition in the middle and
end. According to Cuddon, consonance is the close repetition of identical consonant
sounds after different vowel (2013, p. 153). The example of consonance in the poem
is “Poem 315” by Emily Dickson,
“Your brain to bubble cool,
Deals one imperial thunderbolt,”
The consonant sound /l/ is repeated to create a sense of atmosphere in the poem.
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d. Rhyme
According to Wales, rhyme is a kind of phonetic echo found in verse:
more precisely, a phonemic matching (2011). Rhyme is the repetition of similar
sounds in the same stanza. The poets make the rhyme in the poem intentionally to
deliver particular his/her message or to give an aesthetic touch in the poem. Seven
rhymes will be used in the present study. Those are eye-rhyme, masculine rhyme,
feminine rhyme, slant rhyme, para rhyme, end rhyme, and internal rhyme.
1) Masculine rhyme
Masculine rhyme is typically monosyllabic content word (Wales, 2011). It
is stressed or ‘strong’ rhyme. Masculine rhyme used in the traditional prosody since
the end of the sixteenth century.
E.g.
Stand the church clock at ten to three?
And is there honey still for tea?
2) Feminine rhyme
Feminine rhymes are multi-syllabic, involving unstressed ending.
(Wales, 2011, p. 156).
/ x
E.g. Little Jack Horner
/ x
Sat in a corner
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3) Slant rhyme
Slant rhyme is a repetition in both initial and final consonants.
E.g. /bend/ and /band/
4) Pararhyme
Pararhyme or half-rhyme is used by some to refer to rhyming words when
the final consonants sound is the same.
E.g. /ill/ and /shell/
5) Internal rhyme
Internal rhyme is a rhyme which occurs within a single verse-line. The
example is taken from the first line of Shelly’s ‘The Cloud.
E.g. I bring fresh /showers/ for the thirsting /flowers/
6) End rhyme
End rhyme is the most common rhyme in English. According to Wales,
end rhyme is two units matched by identical sequences of sound stretching from the
vowel (usually stressed) to the end of the word, with the initial sound varied.
E.g. /rose/ and /toes/
7) Eye rhyme
Eye rhyme is the rhyme where it has identical spellings but different
pronunciations.
E.g. /bough/ and /cough/
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3. Graphological Level
According to Gomez, Graphology is a linguistic level of analysis that
comprises the study of graphic aspects of language (2015). Graphology deals with
the analysis of physical characteristics and pattern of handwriting to identify the
writer. Graphology in language text covers punctuation. The language text with
intentional graphology can have more meaning and effect on the reader. Moreover,
literary works especially poem has no boundaries. The writer has the freedom to
make a poem by specifying graphology to create an effect of a particular
interpretation.
a. Punctuation
According to Calhoun, punctuation considers as one of the non-verbal
tools of poetic expression available to the poet (Calhoun, 2015). Punctuation also
functions to give certain meaning in the language text.
1) Period (.)
Period or full stop is punctuation that is used to close a sentence and placed
at the end of it.
2) Comma (,)
Comma is used to make sentences-particularly longer sentences-easier to
read.
3) Apostrophe (‘)
An apostrophe refers to mark possession and indicate omission of letters
(Ahmed & Irshad, 2015).
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4) Dash (-)
Dash is used to mark a big break, or interruption, in a sentence.
5) Semicolon (;)
This punctuation used when the sentence is alike or belong together.
Unlike comma, a semicolon can go between two sentences.
6) Colon (:)
A colon is used before giving an example-or examples-of something.
4. Grammatical Level
Grammatical concerns with the structure of the sentences. As stated by
Fromkin, “If sequence of words forming a sentence is consistent with the rules of
the grammar, the sentence is grammatical” (2000, p. 90). In English language, tense
is one of the most important elements in grammatical. Tense indicates the time of
particular action. Several noticeable tenses are shown in the poem “Mending Wall”
by Robert Frost. The researcher analyzes the various tenses to see the relation
between tenses and the meaning of the poem. The tense will be analyzing line per
line. The tenses that will be analyzing are present tense (simple present tense and
present perfect tense), past tense (simple past tense and past progressive tense).
a. Simple Present Tense
According to Yule present tense is the most basic sentence, it is associated
with the ‘actual habitual’ at present tense and illustrated with an expression of time
(1998). Simple present tense in general expresses facts (general truth), habitual
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events, and events that exist. Since simple present tense deals with the event in the
present usually will use time adjunct and frequency adjunct such as now, today,
often, always, sometimes and so on. The example of simple present tense is “I eat
breakfast every morning” (habitual), “The sun rises in the east” (general truth).
b. Present Perfect Tense
According to Eastwood, present perfect is used when the speaker tells
about the past and the present, for actions in the period leading up to the present
(1994). Present perfect tenses are used to express the idea that a certain event
happens before another event occurs. Present perfect indicated with the auxiliary
‘have’ followed by past participle. The example of present perfect tense is “She has
stayed in Jogja since 2005”, this sentence means that the subject ‘she’ already
stayed in Jogja from 2005 and until now she still staying in Jogja.
c. Past Tense
Stated by Yule, past tense is used to talk about the actions in past time,
denoting completed action in the past (1998). There two types of past tense that will
be analyzed in this study. First is simple past tense. Simple past tense is used to
express events that started in the past and ended in the past. Simple past tense
indicated with the use of verb two and the adjunct of time such as yesterday, last
week, last year, and so on. The example of past tense is “Students of Sanata Dharma
University went to Jakarta last week”, this sentence means that the trip of students
of Sanata Dharma University to Jakarta happened in past (last week) and ended in
the past too. Second is past progressive tense. Past progressive tense is used to
express the idea that a certain event is still in progress during a particular time (past
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time). The example is “Kiko was studying grammar when I called him”, this
sentence means that Kiko started studying grammar before I called him, by the time
I called he was still studying grammar.
5. Semantic Level
According to Simpson, semantics level is the meaning of words and
sentences (2004, p. 5). Wales added that semantic specifically the study of linguistic
meaning of words and sentences, it has much influenced by philosophy and logic
in its history (2011, p. 379). There are four types of semantics that are mentioned
by Wales, those are lexical semantics, sentence semantics, narrative semantics, and
literary semantics (2011, p. 380). Lexical semantics study the different sense
relations of words such as synonym, hyponym, and figurative language. Sentence
semantics study the meanings that take place between parts of the sentences in term
or roles, for example agent and patient. In narrative semantics, it concerns about the
discussion of topics such as possible words that occur in a text. Narrative semantics
is influenced by some kind of philosophy. Last is literary semantics, literary
semantics serves psychological, philosophical or general theoretical approach to the
dynamics of literary text. The present study analyzes the lexical semantics, which
is figurative language. As mentioned before, Robert Frost was famous with his
uniqueness in using stylistic features like metaphor, simile, and symbol; therefore,
the present study applies figurative language. The figurative language that are used
in this study is metaphor, simile, symbol, and imagery.
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a. Metaphor
The word metaphor came from Greek which means ‘carry-over’ (Wales,
2011, p. 265). Metaphor is the comparison of two different things. Metaphor can be
defined as direct comparison. One of the examples of simile can be found in the
poem “The Sun Rising” by John Donne,
“She is all states, and all prince, I.
Nothing else is.
Prince do but play us; compared to this,
All honor’s mimic, all wealth alchemy.
In the example above, it can be explained that Donne tells that his lover is like
every country in the world. Their love is too strong that they are the world and else
is fake.
b. Simile
Simile comes from Latin word “similis”. According to Wales, simile is a
figure of speech whereby two concepts are imaginatively and descriptively
compared (2011, p. 383). Simile can be said as indirect comparison because it uses
the word “like” and “as”. An example of simile can be found in the poem “A Red,
Red Rose” by Robert Burns:
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
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From the stanza above it can be seen that Burns compares his lover to a read rose
and melody. In literature red rose symbolizes as beauty and love. Here, Burns
wants to emphasis that his lover is a beauty that he truly loves. He also compares
his lover as melody, melody can be described as harmony. Burns tries to express
that his lover is a melody that makes his life perfect.
c. Symbolism
From Greek “token”, a symbol is a sign, whether visual or verbal, which
stands for something else within a speech community. Different domains may
evolve special sets of symbol/ symbolism. Literature, for instance, draws general
symbols (spring as a symbol of life and birth, winter as the symbol of death, etc.),
also literary “symbols”, a popular field of study in literary criticism (Wales, 2011,
p. 408). Symbol indirectly represents ideas; the meaning is not conveyed directly.
Additional, literary symbols may be a part of our culture such as rose symbolizes
beauty and love. Other than that a symbol can be idiolect that means created by an
individual writer, the symbolism of William Blake as W.B for example. Symbolism
in the literature shows the competence of our interpretations and contexts of the
literary works. The example of symbolism in the poem can be seen from Emily
Dickinson’s poem “A Light Exist in Spring”,
A light exists in a spring
not present on the year
at any other period-
when March is scarcely here..
In the poem above, Dickinson chooses ‘a light’ to symbolize happiness and hope.
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d. Imagery
Originally, image had a visual meaning, still common in Semiotic of a
physical imitation of an object as in sculpture, painting, and masque. In film, it
refers to a single shot in an edited sequence (Wales, 2011, p. 215). Literary images
in both prose and poetry are not simply to decorate but to deliver, for example, to
reinforce themes, settings, or characterizations. The example of imagery can be
seen from Robert Frost’s “My November Guest”,
“My sorrow when she is here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walked the sodden pasture lane.”
In the poem above, Frost uses the word ‘dark’ as the imagery, which represents the
bad or worst days of autumn rain. The word ‘dark’ is not merely to beautify but to
reinforce the ideas of how bad the situation described in the poem “My November
Guest”.
C. Review of Related Background
The last study is Analysis on Nature in Robert Frost’s Poetry by Yuanli
Zhang (2017). The contribution of this study lies on the analysis. This study helps
to support the present study’s research background as it mentions that Robert
Frost’s unique ways in applying distinctive features and his habit in using nature
and human in his works.
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The analysis focuses on the distinctive features used by Frost and his view
on nature. The researcher will use this research to help answering the first and
second research questions. Frost owns special feeling and sympathy towards nature.
The first analysis is Robert Frost and His View of Nature. The following
subsequence is Robert Frost Nature’s Poetry. Robert Frost was renowned modern
American poet of nature and rural life. Most of his poems are about natural
elements, he was really interested in natural things since he found beauty in
common things. However, his poems are not merely the understanding of natural
world, his poem concerns with human psychological. Frost once said “some people
call me poet for nature because of the natural setting. But I am not a poet for nature,
there is also something else in my poems” (1976).
Robert Frost uses nature to illustrate human’s psychology struggles in
everyday life. His poems mostly start with the observation of nature then proceed
to the connection of human’s condition such as loneliness, helplessness, confusion,
and indifferent human’s relationship. Even though Frost uses nature the typical
pastoral life is not the main theme of his poem, instead he concentrates on the
dramatic conflict in natural world which involve human, such as the confusion and
dilemma in the poem “Mending Wall” and the danger of nature as in “Exposed
Nest”. Nature in his poems is employed as a metaphor. He describes the natural
world which leads the reader to the comparison. Frost makes an analogy to some
human conditions through nature. Though, he never forces his ideas on the reader,
however he hopes the reader able to get the close ideas as him.
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The second subsequence is Robert Frost View’s on Nature. In this chapter
the researcher mentions Wordsworth and Emerson which have the same interested
with Frost. All of them were well-known as the poets of nature, Wordsworth is a
pantheist who believes that God exists everywhere in nature. According to him,
nature is in harmony with mankind, nature and man are in the spiritual union.
Whereas, Emerson mentions his view on nature in his essay named “Nature”, he
believes in the immanence of God in nature. Nature in Emerson’s eyes is the symbol
of spirit. In many poems of Frost, it is known that he shares the same keen interest
with Words Worth and Emerson. However, Frost’s perception of nature is more
complicated than them.
The third subsequence is The Bright Side of Nature. In Frost poetry there
exist the bright side of nature. Trees, grass, and animals can be described with full
of affection. The reader can truly feel his affection to nature’s beauty and grace. “A
Winter Eden” is an example of nature’s beauty. The poem is about the place of
winter in the cycle of the season. Frost symbolizes winter as the point in cycle of
life that marks the transition to rebirth. Contrary to the popular belief in winter as
cold, death, and bleakness. Here, Frost shows a beautiful, delight, and lively scene.
The fourth subsequence is The Dark Side of Nature. Lionel Trilling, an
American literary critic defined Frost as a “terrifying poet” who depicted “terrifying
universe”. Trilling speech once made many critics re-examined Frost’s poetry
which people thought to be bright and optimistic. In fact, the poetry contains of
“dark” quality. The “dark” quality brings about the dark side of nature in his poetry.
As in the poem “Into My Own”, the first poem in his first book entitled “A Boy’s
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Will”. Darkness usually correlates with mystery, ill, and omen. Here, the poem
shows the poet as the stands by the edge of woods, listening to the song of unknown
birds. The song of birds is fascinating, but it lures the poet to step in the dark woods.
But he resists and keep himself away from the woods in their darkness. It shows
that nature in Frost’s poetry is dual-character, namely bright and dark. It can be a
friend of a man, but It can also be enemy who is generous one from time to time.
Second analysis is Nature as Source of Human Wisdom. The following
subsequence is Close Relation Between Man and Nature. We cannot live without
nature, therefore; man and nature are related. In a sense, human being has the same
responsibility as other creatures, we are governed by the same rule in nature. Frost
makes nature as a medium, describes nature in all beauty, loveless, and even
meanness. However, the journey of poem ultimately ends in the problem of man
and solution in this problem through human psychology. The process of finding
solution is important as their living. Since they think intensively and extensively,
thinking becomes an infinite process. The more they think, the more they learn until
learning feels like an endless process. Therefore, so long as man thinking, he will
think forever. The poetry of Frost will live to expose the relationship of man and
nature.
The second subsequence is Symbolic Quality of Nature. Symbolism is the
use of one object or action (a symbol) to represent or suggest something else. It is
a prevalent use for poets to express their ideas through indirect statements, thus
invest the object with an implied meaning (Nordquist, 2016). A poem may have a
surface meaning, but it can also have a deeper meaning which is understood by the
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reader only by interpreting the significance of words and phrases in the poem.
“After Apple Picking” is the example of symbolic poem. The poem tells about how
the speaker feeling tired after harvest a big amount of apples from his orchard tree.
The act of harvesting is the symbol for daily work in life. Continuously, the poem
also mentions about winter. The speaker aware of the coming winter after the
harvesting autumn. In literal level, it could be interpreted as natural circle of season.
However, from deeper meaning the word “winter” symbols as death. The speaker
knows the fact that he is getting old and death is a natural ending for him. Frost’s
poetic symbols is simple, but the meaning he expressed is significant, which can
only be achieved through symbolic reading.
The third subsequence is “From Delight to Wisdom”: Nature’s Inspiration
to Frost. It is well known that Robert Frost, in a foreword to his Collected Poems
(1939), wrote: a poem “begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” In the poem the
word “delight” does not mean as joy, but it means as the wonder at some unexpected
sight. In the end of the poem Frost puts “wisdom”, which is an insight into human
situation. Nature, to frost is an inspiration.
Third analysis is The Implications of Robert Frost’s View on Nature.
People love Robert Frost’s poems because they can always learn something about
life by reading them. Specifically, the implications of Robert Frost’s view on nature
can be shown from the reading of his poems. The following subsequence is
Dialectical Mind to View Nature. To hold a dialectical mind to view nature, we
must enumerate both sides. The fact, there is no clear dividing line for good and
evil in nature. The thinking of mind to view nature is one of dialectic. Frost can
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enjoy the beauty of nature; however, he is always aware of the nature’s terror. To
treat nature in a proper way we should hold a dialectal mind.
The last subsequence is Nature as A Book. Nature should be read as a
book, nature as a book, is accessible to everyone, but it is not always an easy book
for us. The meaning is never bluntly stated but implied. Besides, it is dynamic and
uncertain. To be a good reader we have to observe and analyze the book. Frost
makes a good example in this aspect. He is a remarkable reader of nature who reads,
thinks, and always learns. What’s more, he is always trying to share what he has
learned. He expresses it through his poetry. Frost expects us to see what he has seen,
and learn what he has learned.
D. Theoretical Framework
Several theories have been reviewed previously as the theories that will
help the researcher to solve the problem formulations. Stylistics is the approach of
the present study; therefore, stylistics theories are used to support the researcher in
revealing the language features in the poem “Mending Wall”. Continuously,
language features it would be used to reveal the meaning of the poem.
There are four levels of language features that will be analyzed: those are
phonological level, graphological level, grammatical level, and semantic level. In
phonological level, the researcher uses the theories to find out the sound patterns
which exist in the poem such as rhyme, assonance, consonance, alliteration. In
graphological, the theories cover the punctuation. In grammatical level, the tenses
in the poem become the data of the theories; those are simple present tense, present
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perfect tense, past tense, and past progressive tense. In the semantic level, the
researcher uses rhetorical devices that exist in the poem, such as metaphor, simile
imagery, and symbolism to support the writer in revealing the meaning of the poem.
Those are the theories that will help the researcher to find out the language features
in this research. The researcher uses language features that exist in the poem
“Mending Wall” to answer the second problem, which is to reveal the meaning of
the poem “Mending Wall”.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter is divided into three sections. They are the object of the study,
approach of the study and method of the study. Object of the study is poem which
are analyzed through the language features. Approach of the study explains the
kind of approach that is used in the present study to analyze the language features.
Method of the study shows how the researcher’s ways of collecting and analyzing
the data.
A. Object of the Study
The object of this present study is one of the well-known poems by Robert
Frost entitled “Mending Wall”. The poem was taken from the book entitled North
of Boston. North of Boston was a collection of seventeen poems, included the two
well-known poems, “Mending Wall” and “After-Apple Picking”. The book was
published in 1914 by a publisher named David Nutt. The poem “Mending Wall” is
not structured in stanzas; it is a simple forty-five line of the first-person narrative.
The poem “Mending Wall” is about two neighbors that meet every spring
day to repair the wall, which separates their properties. However, the speaker of
this poem thinks that there is no sense of keeping the wall. Meanwhile, the neighbor
thinks that the wall makes a good neighborhood. The neighbor seems to be a
conservative person; it makes the situation complicated because the speaker of this
poem is more open-minded. Robert Frost with his creativity persuades the readers
to be criticize about the poem because it is not merely tells about a story of two
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neighbors, but the poem “Mending Wall” has specific meaning that related into
conflict and relationship in human’s life.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach that the researcher uses in the present study is stylistic
approach since the present study concerns about the stylistic analysis in the poem
of Robert Frost entitled “Mending Wall”. Leech and Short state that stylistics is
the linguistic study of style (1981, p. 13). Added, Bradford says that stylistics is
“an elusive and slippery topic every contribution to the vast, multifaceted discipline
of literary studies will involve an engagement with style” (1997). Thus, it can be
said that literary studies bluntly connected with style, as style exists in every literary
works. Since the present study analyzes the linguistic features in literary work that
is a poem by Robert Frost entitled “Mending Wall”, therefore it is acceptable to use
stylistic as the approach of the study.
Stylistic approach in the present study acted as the principle to analyze the
literary text, which is a poem. The poem contains the linguistic elements those are
phonology, graphology, grammar, and semantic. The linguistic elements would be
revealed through each language level in stylistics. After discovering the linguistic
elements, the researcher defines the use of linguistic elements to reveal the meaning
of the poem.
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C. Method of the Study
1. Data Collection
The object analyzed in this study was literary work, which was a poem by
Robert Frost entitled “Mending Wall”. Furthermore, this study aimed to analyze
the poem with stylistic approach and find out the usage of stylistics in contracting
the meaning of the poem. The researcher did several phases to collect the data are
displayed below.
Firstly, the researcher came to choose literary works as the data. The
researcher decided to pick a poem by Robert Frost. This decision supported by the
fact that Robert Frost was one of the influential figures in literature. Robert Frost’s
poems have been analyzed in various studies. In this study, the researcher used
population as the type of data collection since the study analyzed stylistic features
from a poem.
Secondly, after deciding to analyze Robert Frost’s poem, the researcher
limited the scope of the study. Robert Frost was famous for his works related to
human’s life and nature. Therefore, the researcher decided to analyze the poem,
which contained the message for human’s life. The researcher has read some of
Frost’s works related to human and nature. Then, researcher came to a decision to
choose a poem entitled “Mending Wall”. This poem tells about the arbitrary
separations that humans create between themselves. The poem “Mending Wall” is
linguistically unique poem because it does not separate by stanzas; it was a long
poem with 45 lines. After that, the researcher collected the data that is a poem
entitled “Mending Wall” from website poets.org.
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Thirdly, the researcher selected the language features that would be
analyzed. The researcher analyzed the poem “Mending Wall” through each line.
The researcher had determined to analyze the poem “Mending Wall” in four levels;
those are phonological level, graphological level, grammatical level, and semantics
level. After that, the researcher elected the features from each level. In phonological
level, the researcher analyzed alliteration, assonance, and consonance. In
graphological level, the researcher analyzed the punctuation. In grammatical level,
the researcher analyzed the tenses occurred in the poem. In semantics level, the
researcher analyzed the figurative language.
2. Data Analysis
To analyze the data that had been shown, several phases must be done.
The analysis of this data related to the language features that covered in four levels:
phonological level, graphological level, grammatical level, and semantics level.
Those language levels were analyzed to answer the two problem formulations in
present study.
First, the researcher analyzed the language features in the data by
elaborating the four levels. In the phonological level, the researcher analyzed
alliteration, consonance, assonance, and rhyme because the poem “Mending Wall”
is a long lines poem and does not separate by stanzas. Therefore, the researcher
wanted to know whether a long lines poem has sound rhyming like poems that have
stanzas.
In alliteration, the researcher paid attention to the repetition of initial
consonant sounds per line. Consonance is the opposite of alliteration, which is the
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repetition of the final consonant. Meanwhile, assonance is the repetition of a vowel.
In rhyme, the researcher paid attention to several types of rhyme which occurred in
the poem.
After that, graphological level was observed, the researcher focused on the
punctuations since poem “Mending Wall” uses many punctuations such as dash and
apostrophe. After that grammatical level, the grammatical level was observed by
looking at the tenses that were used in the poem. The tenses marked different kind
of timeline that could give a particular meaning of the poem. The last is semantic
level, the researcher found several rhetorical devices in poem that constructed the
meaning of the poem.
Secondly, after finishing the analysis of the language features in the poem
“Mending Wall “, the researcher figured out the meaning of the poem by connecting
the sentences and the language features that were used in the poem. Moreover, to
able to answer the second problem formulation, the researcher had obtained the
result of the first problem formulation. The researcher analyzed the language
features in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” to reveal the meaning of the poem. The
meaning of the poem was obtained after analyzing the language features.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISSCUSIONS
In this chapter, the researcher explains the analysis and discussion of the
poem “Mending Wall”. The first analysis is the language features of the poem
“Mending Wall”. The second analysis is how the language features used to figure
out the meaning of the poem.
A. Language Features in Poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost
This part answers the stylistic features used by Frost in the poem “Mending
Wall”. The language features are analyzed based on theory of Simpson that has
been introduced in the previous chapter. The features are analyzed from
phonological level, graphological level, grammatical level, and semantic level.
1. Phonological Level
Poem is constructed from words; the words are arranged specifically to
create a continuity between one word to another. In poem, the analysis of stylistic
features can be seen through the phonological level. As previously discussed,
phonology is the study of sound system. There are two sound features in
phonological level which are segmental and suprasegmental sound features.
Segmental features consist of alliteration, consonance, and assonance, while
suprasegmental features consist of rhyme and meter. In this present study, the
researcher only analyze the rhyme.
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a. Segmental Sound Features
In the poem “Mending Wall” by Frost, the researcher finds alliteration,
consonance, and assonance. Therefore, those sound features are analyzed, the
analysis of the sound features helps the researcher to find the author’s purpose. The
analysis is presented in the following.
Firstly, the researcher analyses the alliteration in the poem. Alliteration is
the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words in the same line of
poetry (Mahmood, 2019). Added, according to Bradford, alliteration is the
repetition of cluster of similar consonant sounds within individual lines and across
sequences of line (2005 , p. 16). They are called cluster because each of the sounds
in a cluster can be heared. In conclusion, alliteration occurs when the same initial
sound repeated in the same line of stanza of the poem. Alliteration that are found in
the poem are displayed below.
Table 1. Alliterations in the poem “Mending Wall”
No Alliteration Frequency Example
1 /ð/ 11 Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
(Line 1)
2 /h/ 7 He said it for himself. I see him there
(Line 38)
3 /w/ 7 And on a day we meet to walk the line
(Line 13)
4 /s/ 6 And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
(Line 3)
5 /t/ 3 We have to use a spell to make them balance:
(Line 18)
6 /m/ 3 Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
(Line 28)
7 /b/ 2 Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
(Line 39)
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Table 2. Alliterations in the poem “Mending Wall”
8 /ɡ/ 2 He only says, ‘Good fences make good
neighbors.’ (Line 27)
9 /n/ 2 I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
(Line 12)
10 /k/ 1 Where there are cows? But here there are no
cows
(Line 31)
In the poem “Mending Wall”, the researcher finds that there are ten
alliterations occur. The consonants that undergo alliteration are /ð/, /h/, /s/, /w/, /t/,
/g/, /m/, /b/, /k/, and /n/. Alliteration /ð/ is the most frequent one, it occurs 11 times.
The phonetic features of alliteration /ð/ are interdental voiced fricative. The
example of alliteration /ð/ can be seen through the words “there” and “that” in the
first line. The second alliteration is /h/ it occurs 7 times. The phonetic features of
alliteration /h/ are glottal voiceless fricative. The example of alliteration /h/ can be
seen through the words “he”, “himself”, and “him” in the line 38. The third
alliteration is /w/, same with /h/ it occurs 7 times. The phonetic features of
alliteration /w/ are bilabial /velar voiced glide. The example of alliteration /w/ can
be seen through the words “we” and “walk” in the line 1.
The fourth alliteration is /s/, it occurs 6 times. The phonetic features of
alliteration /s/ are alveolar voiceless fricative. The example of alliteration can be
seen in the line 3 from the words “spills” and “sun. The fifth alliteration is /t/, it
occurs 3 times. The phonetic features of alliteration /t/ are alveolar voiceless stop
(oral). The example of alliteration /t/ can be seen from the word “to” which is
repeated two times in the line 18. The sixth alliteration is /m/, it occurs 3 times.
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Line 28 is the example of alliteration /m/, it can be seen from the words “mischief”
and “me”. The phonetic features of alliteration /m/ are bilabial voiced nasal.
The seventh alliteration is /b/, it occurs 2 times. The example can be seen
in the line 39 from the words “bringing” and “by”. The phonetic features of
alliteration /b/ are bilabial voiced stop (oral). The eight alliteration is /ɡ/, it occurs
2 times. The phonetic features of /ɡ/ are velar voiced stop (oral). The example is in
the line 27 from the word “good” which is repeated two times. The ninth alliteration
is /n/, it occurs 2 times. The example can be seen through the words “neighbor” and
“know” in line 12. The phonetic features of alliteration /n/ are alveolar voiced nasal.
Finally, the last alliteration is /k/, it occurs once in line 31, it can be seen through
the word “cow” which is repeated two times. The phonetic features of alliteration
/k. are velar voiceless stop (oral).
Besides Alliteration, the researcher finds assonance in the poem “Mending
Wall”. According to Bradford, assonance is the repetition of clusters of similar
vowel within individual lines and across sequences of line (Stylistics , 2005 , p. 16).
In conclusion, assonance is the repetition of vowel in the same line of a poem. The
assonances that are found in the poem are shown below.
Table 3. Assonances in the poem “Mending Wall”
No Assonance Frequency Example
1 /ɪ/ 23 We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
(Line 20)
2 /ə/ 22 That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
(Line 2)
3 /ɛ/ 13 No one has seen them made or heard them
made,
(Line 10)
4 /ʌ/ 10 And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
(Line 17)
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Table 4. Assonances in the poem “Mending Wall”
5 /æ/ 8 We have to use a spell to make them balance:
(Line 18)
6 /i/ 7 He said it for himself. I see him there
(Line38)
7 /ʊ/ 4 He only said, ‘Good fences make good
neighbors.’ (Line 27)
8 /u/ 4 He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
(Line 41)
9 /ɑ/ 3 Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
(Line 7)
10 /ɔ/ 3 He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
(Line 24)
In the poem “Mending Wall”, assonance /ɪ/ is the dominant one. The
phonetic features of assonance /ɪ/ are front high. It occurs 23 times, an example can
be seen from the words “fingers”, “with”, and “handling” in the line 20. Those
words have assonance /ɪ/ in the beginning, middle, and end. Second assonance is
the sound /ə/, it occurs 24 times. The phonetic features of assonance /ə/ are central
mid. One of the examples is line 2. It can be seen from the words “the”, “frozen”,
and “under”. Those words have assonance /ə/ in the beginning.
Third assonance is /ɛ/, which occurs 13 times. The phonetic features of
assonance /ɛ/ are front mid vowel. An example can be seen from the word “them”
which is repeated 2 times in the line 10. The words “them” have assonance /ɛ/ in
the middle. Fourth assonance is /ʌ/, it occurs 10 times. The phonetic features of
assonance /ʌ/ are central mid vowel. An example can be seen from the word “some”
which is repeated two times in line 17. The words “some” have assonance /ʌ/ in the
beginning.
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Fifth assonance is /æ/, it occurs 8 times. The phonetic features of
assonance /æ/ are front low. An examples can be seen from the words “have” and
“balance in line 18. Those words have assonance /æ/ in the beginning. The sixth
assonance is /i/, it occurs 7 times. The phonetic features of assonance /i/ are front
high. One of the examples is words “he” and “see” from line 38. Those words have
assonance /i/ in the end.
Seventh assonance is /ʊ/, it occurs 4 times. The phonetic features of
assonance /ʊ/ are round back high. An example can be seen from the words “would”
and “out” in the line 8. Those words have assonance /ʊ/ in the middle. Eighth
assonance is /u/, it occurs 4 times. The phonetic features of assonance /ʊ/ are
rounded back high. One of the examples can be seen from the words “move” and
“to” in line 41. Those words have assonance /ʊ/ in the beginning and end.
Ninth assonance is /ɑ/, it occurs 3 times. The phonetic features of
assonance /ɑ/ are unrounded back low. One example is line 7, it can be seen from
the words “not” and “on”. Those words have assonance /ɑ/ in the middle and
beginning.
Last assonance is /ɔ/, it occurs 3 times. The phonetic features of assonance
/ɔ/ are rounded back middle. One of the examples is line 24, it can be seen from the
words “all” and “orchard”. Those words have assonance /ɔ/ in the beginning.
The last segmental features that is analyzed in the poem “Mending Wall”
is consonance. According to Cuddon, consonance is the close repetition of identical
consonant sounds after different vowel (2013, p. 153). Unlike alliteration,
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consonance appears not only in the initial but also middle and end. The consonances
in the poem “Mending Wall” are presented below.
Table 5. Consonances in the poem “Mending Wall”
1 /n/ 22 That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
(Line 2)
2 /t/ 16 Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
(Line 7)
3 /z/ 16 He says again good, ‘Good fences make good
neighbors.’ (Line 45)
4 /d/ 15 But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
(Line 8)
5 /r/ 15 We wear our fingers rough with handling
them. (Line 20)
6 /l/ 11 And some are loaves and some so nearly
balls
(Line 17)
7 /m/ 6 He said it for himself. I see him there.
(Line 38)
8 /s/ 4 And makes gaps even two can pass abreast
(Line 4)
9 /p/ 3 Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
(Line 39)
10 /ŋ/ 3 We wear our fingers rough with handling
them. (Line 20)
11 /v/ 3 Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
(Line 42)
12 /ʧ/ 1 To each the boulders that have fallen to each
(Line 16)
In the poem “Mending Wall” consonance /n/ occurs the most, it occurs 22
times. The example can be seen from line 2, consonance /n/ occurs in the middle
and end in the words “sends”, “frozen-ground”, and “under”. The phonetic feature
of consonance /n/ are alveolar nasal voiced. Second consonance is /t/, it occurs 16
times. The example can be seen from line 7, consonance /t/ occurs in the beginning
and end in the words “left”, “not”, and “stone”. The phonetic features of
consonance /t/ are alveolar voiceless stop (oral).
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Third consonance is /z/, it occurs 16 times. The example can be seen from
line 45, consonance /z/ occurs in the end of the words “says”, “fences”, “neighbors”.
The phonetic features of consonance /z/ are alveolar voiced fricative. Fourth
consonance is /d/, it occurs 15 times. Line 8 is the example, consonance /d/ occurs
in words “would” and “hiding” in the middle and end. The phonetic features of
consonance /d/ are alveolar voiced stop (oral).
Fifth consonance is /r/, it occurs 15 times. The example is line 20,
consonance /r/ occurs in the middle and end from the words “wear” “our”, and
“finger”. The phonetic features of consonance /r/ are alveolar voiceless fricative.
Sixth consonance is /l/, it occurs 11 times. The example can be seen from the words
“loaves” “nearly” “balls” in line 17. Consonance /l/ occurs in the beginning and
end. The phonetic features of consonance /l/ are alveolar lateral liquid (voiced).
Seventh consonance is /m/, it occurs 6 times. Line 38 is the example, it can
be seen from the words “himself” and “him”, the words have consonance /m/ in the
middle and end. The phonetic features of consonance /m/ are bilabial nasal voiced.
Eighth consonance is /s/, it occurs 4 times. The example can be seen in line 4 from
the words “makes”, “gaps”, “pass”, and “abreast”. Consonance /s/ occurs in the end.
The phonetic features of consonance /s/ are alveolar voiceless fricative.
Ninth consonance is /p/, it occurs 3 times. The example can be seen in line
39 from the words “grasped” and “top”. Consonance /p/ occurs in the middle and
end. The phonetic features of consonance /p/ are bilabial voiceless stop (oral). Tenth
consonance is /ŋ/, it occurs 3 times. The example can be seen in line 20 from the
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words “fingers” and “handling”. Consonance /ŋ/ occurs in the middle and end. The
phonetic features of consonance /ŋ/ are velar nasal voiced
Eleventh consonance is /v/, it occurs 3 times. Line 42 is the example,
consonance /v/ can be seen from the words “of” which is repeated 2 times. The
phonetic features of consonance /v/ are labiodental voiced fricative. Twelfth
consonance is /ʧ/, it can be seen in line 16 from the words “each” which is repeated
2 times. The phonetic features of consonance /ʧ/ are palatal voiceless affricative.
From the analysis, it is concluded that Frost applies the three segmental
features in the poem “Mending Wall”. The sound feature which is applied the most
is consonance, as the poem has 12 different consonants which are repeated in the
poem. Followed by alliteration and assonance which has 10 different consonants
and vowel repeated
b. Suprasegmental Sound Features
As mentioned before, suprasegmental sound features consist of rhyme and
meter. However, the suprasegmental sound feature that will be analyzed is only
rhyme. The poem “Mending Wall” only have one stanza consists of 45 lines. The
type of rhyme that are found in the poem is shown below.
Table 6. Rhymes in the poem “Mending Wall”
No Type of Rhymes Rhyme
1
Eye-rhyme
Something there is that doesn’t love a
wall
(Line 1)
There were it is we do not need the
wall:
(Line 23)
wɔl
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Table 7. Rhymes in the poem “Mending Wall”
Something there is that doesn’t love a
wall
(Line 35)
And he likes having thought of it so
well
(Line 44)
wɛl
The poem “Mending Wall” does not have near rhyme, unlike other poems.
The rhyme only occurs once that separated with many lines. The monosyllabic
words “wall” and “well” in the line 1, 23, 35, and 44 are rhyming. From the table
above, it can be seen that the different of the words of “wall” and “well” is only in
the middle vowel that are /ɔ/ and /ɛ/. If /wɔl/ and /wɛl/ are broken down into phoneme
units will be:
Syllable Syllable
On Rhyme On Rhyme
Nu Co Nu Co
/w ɔ l/ /w/ ɛ l/
From these tree diagrams, it can be seen that both words are identical, but
they have different phoneme in the middle. The low back rounded /ɔ/ in “wall” and
front middle unrounded /ɛ/ in “well”. The words “wall” and “well” are pronounced
alike, exceptionally the vowel in the middle. Therefore, this type of rhyme is called
E.R or eye rhyme. Because the spelling is identical but differences phonetic
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transcriptions. The poem “Mending Wall” is unrhymed poem; therefore, it is called
blank verse.
2. Graphological Level
This level analyzes the shape of the poem. The poem “Mending Wall”
consists of 45 lines, it is a long poem that does not separate by stanzas. In the poem
“Mending Wall”, the researcher notices that the poem has apostrophe to indicate
contraction and direct speech. The use of apostrophe in literature indicates the
arrangement of words addressing a nonexistent person or an abstract idea in such a
way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings (Ahmed Mumtaz,
2015). The first graphological level is contraction; the contractions that occur in the
poem are shown below.
Table 8. Contractions Found in “Mending Wall”
No Contraction Representation Frequency Example
1 Doesn’t Does not 2 S Something there is that
doesn’t love a wall,
(Line 1)
2 I’d I would 2 Before I built a wall I’d ask
to know (Line 32)
3 Isn’t Is not 1 ‘Why do they make good
neighbors? Isn’t it
(Line 30)
4 Father’s Father is 1 He will not go behind his
father’s saying, (Line 43)
5 It’s It is 1 But it's not elves exactly,
and I'd rather (Line 37)
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In the poem “Mending Wall” contraction occurs only four times. It can be
seen that the author applies contraction or shortening form for auxiliary’s verb “do”,
“is” and modal verb “would”. There are 7 contractions that occur in total.
Contractions are used to keep the number of syllables on each line since the poem
has iambic pentameter which consists of five set unstressed-stressed syllables.
Other than contraction, the researcher also find apostrophe to indicate direct speech.
The results are shown below.
Table 9. Direct Speech Found in “Mending Wall”
No Direct speech
1 ‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’ (Line 19)
2 He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 27)
3 ‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it (Line 30)
4 That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him, (Line 36)
5 He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 45)
In the poem “Mending Wall”, Frost uses apostrophe to indicate direct
speech. Apostrophe functions as quotation marker, it usually placed in the
beginning and end of a sentence. However as seen in line 30 and 36, Frost only uses
one apostrophe in the beginning of sentences. It shows that Frost flouts the rule of
direct speech to fulfil the essential of his poem.
Other punctuations that are analyzed are period, comma, semi colon,
colon, and dash. Period used when the idea of a sentence is complete while comma
used to indicate that the sentence is not finished yet. Comma placed to give a brief
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pause or separate thought to the reader. In the poem “Mending Wall”, Frost uses
period at the end of sentences for 14 times and comma for 12 times. Uniquely, Frost
also uses semi colon and colon at the end of sentences. Semi colon shows a break
in sentences but stronger than comma, while colon acts as a pause to give
information that is related. Nor semi colon and colon act as a sign that the idea is
complete. Frost uses semi colon two times at the end of sentences and 4 times for
colon. The last graphological deviation is dash. Dashes are used to separate group
of words. Dashes that occur in the poem “Mending Wall” are shown below.
Table 10. Dashes Found in “Mending Wall”
No Direct speech
1 That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, (Line 2)
2 But at spring mending-time we find them there. (Line 11)
3 Oh, just another kind of out-door game, (Line 21)
4 In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. (Line 40)
A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a
colon, and more relaxed than parentheses (Strunk William, 1999, p. 20). Dashes are
function to separate group of words. There are two type of dashes, en dash (-) and
em dash (—). In the poem “Mending Wall” Frost uses en dash (-) several times.
Specifically en dash is often used to indicate time spans or range of numbers and
denote a connection. Here, Frost uses en dash to denote a connection of group of
words. In line 2, Frost uses en dash to separate the words frozen (Adj)- ground (N)-
swell (V). In line 11, Frost uses dash to separate the words mending (V)-time (N).
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In line 21, the words out (Prep)-door (N). In line 40, the words old (Adj)-stone (N)
are separated by dashes. The words which separated by dashes have differences part
of speech; however it still has a connection that creates a meaning.
3. Grammatical Level
In this level the researcher focuses on the tenses that are used in the poem
“Mending Wall”. According to Yule, tenses gives sign of the location of a situation
the time” (Yule, 1998, p. 54). Frost uses variations of tenses as listed below.
Table 11. Tenses in the poem “Mending Wall”
No Tenses
Frequency Example
1 Simple present tense
37 Something there is that doesn't
love a wall, (line 1)
2 Present perfect tense 4 I have come after them and
made repair (Line 6)
3 Simple past tense 3 Before I built a wall I'd ask to
know (Line 32)
4 Past progressive tense 1 What I was walling in or
walling out, (Line 33)
TOTAL 45
In this grammatical level, the researcher focuses on the tense that are
noticeable in the poem. Robert Frost uses variations of tense that are listed above.
In line 1, the structure of the sentence followed simple present tense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall (Line 1)
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Firstly, in the line 1, “Something there is” acts as the subject. Where “that”
acts as connecting word. Then “doesn’t love” acts as the predicate. “a wall” as the
object. The sentence follows the form of simple present tense which is s + v1 + o.
The proof that Frost uses simple present tense indicates that he has intention to tell
the reader that the poem “Mending Wall” is applicable in the present tense. It can
be concluded that Frost wants to give the moral value of the poem “Mending Wall”
to the reader without time limits.
I have come after them and made repair (Line 6)
In the sentence above, the word “I” acts as the subject. “Have come” acts
as the predicator where “have come” indicates that the action already happened and
it affects the situation in the future. The sentence above is parallel structure, the
original sentence is “I have come after them and have made repair”. However, to
make it shorter Frosts uses parallel structure. Thirdly, in the line 32, simple past
tense occurs.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know (Line 32)
In the line 32, the subject is “I”. The predicate uses past form of “build”
which is “built”, it indicates the tense of simple past tense. The use of past tense is
to show that the action/situation already happened in the past time. Fourthly, in the
line 33, there is past progressive tense.
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What I was walling in or walling out (Line 33)
In the line 33, the subject is still “I”. It uses the form of past progressive
tense, which is subject followed by to be + verb-ing. To be in here is “was” which
the past form of “is” followed by wall + ing, therefore; the line 33 uses simple
progressive tense. Progressive tense is used to show that the action still in process
and not yet finished.
From the analysis above it safe to say that Frost dominantly uses simple
present tense. Present tense is used to express general truth, fact, event that simply
exist, and things in present time. In the poem “Mending Wall”, Frost uses simple
present tense to make the readers feel like they exist in the poem; therefore, the
readers will be able to interpret the poem better.
4. Semantic Level
In this semantic level, the researcher analyses the figurative language in
the poem “Mending Wall”. According to Simpson, semantics is the meaning of
words and sentences (2004, p. 5). The figurative language that are found in the
poem “Mending Wall” are presented below.
Table 12. Figurative Language in the poem “Mending Wall”
No Type of rhetorical devices
1 Simile B Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
(Line 39)
In each hand, like an old-stone savage
armed (Line 40)
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Table 13. Figurative Language in the poem “Mending Wall”
2 Symbolism Something there is that doesn’t love a wall
(Line 1)
He only says. ‘Good fences make good
neighbors.’ (Line 27)
3 Imagery He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
(Line 41)
The first figurative language is simile. Unlike metaphor, simile is indirect
comparison. Therefore, simile uses “as” or “like”, in the line 40 Frost uses the word
“like” to compare how bringing a stone grasped firmly is like bringing an old-stone
savage armed, here “an old-stone savage armed” is used to describe the
conservative neighbor. Frost illustrates the conservative neighbors as people from
stone age where they bring stones on their hands to fight.
Second figurative language is symbolism. Frost uses the “wall” as the
symbol. In the poem, the “wall” symbolizes the invisible barrier in the
neighborhood. The “wall” itself has two perspectives, the first one from the speaker
and the second from the neighbors. From the speaker side, the “wall” seems to be
something that he/she hates. The speaker considers the “wall” to be the barrier of
friendship in the neighborhood, as in the lines 13-16:
“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. “
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From the lines above the speaker tells that when she/he meets their
neighbors it does not seem good. When they meet it feels like there is wall between
them which means lack of friendship. Therefore, the speaker does not like the
“wall” because it makes him/her feels lonely. On the other side, the neighbor has
different perspective of the “wall”, here the neighbor says the “wall” as “fence” that
has something positive in the neighborhood:
“He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ ” (Line 27)
“He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ ” (Line 45)
Those two lines show the perspective of “wall” from the neighbor’s side,
the neighbor as mentioned as “he” considers that the “wall” portrays as fences
which can be a connection to one another. The neighbor believes that if people make
a good connection it would make the neighborhood good as well. Third figurative
language is imagery; it occurs in line 41:
“He moves in darkness as it seems to me,” (Line 41)
Frost uses “darkness” in the poem “Mending Wall” as the imagery. In
poetry the word “darkness” is related to something bad or evil. Thus, it can be said
that Frost wants to convey something deeper about the neighbor since the subject
“he” in line 41 refer to the neighbor.
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B. Meaning Revealed from the Stylistic Features in Frost’s “Mending
Wall”
Frost wrote the poem uniquely and formed this specific poem with
meanings behind them. The researcher find out the meaning by connecting the
language features that have been analyzed in the previous subchapter. The existence
stylistic features that contribute meanings of the poem are shown below.
The poem “Mending Wall” deliver certain meanings, especially if the
readers know about the author which is Robert Frost. Frost was famous with his
works about nature and human’s life. According to Zhang, Robert Frost uses nature
to illustrate human’s psychology struggles in everyday life. His poems mostly start
with the observation of nature then proceed to the connection of human’s condition
such as loneliness, helplessness, confusion, and indifferent human’s relationship
(Analysis on Nature in Robert Frost’s Poetry , 2017 ). Some of his works mention
about his perspective of certain events that happen in life. The poem “Mending
Wall” shows about conflict and relationship in human’s life. In this poem Frost
applies on the real walls and figurative walls that divine us. Stylistic features which
are used to reveal the meaning of the poem are explained below.
In the segmental feature on phonological level, alliteration, assonance, and
consonance takes an important role to depicting meaning of the poem. Frost uses
them to emphasis certain words which concerns meaning of the poem. An example
of alliteration is line 28:
“Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder”
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From the line above, alliteration occurs in the words “mischief” and “me”.
It means that Frost wants to emphasize those words. In literature, spring represent
a new beginning, hope, and joy, in short it shows positive vibe. Whereas, the line
says that spring is mischief in me (the speaker). It can be interpreted that the speaker
has difficulties during spring time. In spring time, people will go for new crops,
however the speaker sees spring season as something chaos, he/she does not enjoy
the feeling of meeting people while planting their crops. It is something that the
speaker faces in life. Undoubtedly, the speaker has conflict with her/himself.
Another segmental feature is assonance, line 13-15 in the poem “Mending Wall”
reveal the meaning of the poem:
“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.”
The lines above explain the relationship in the neighborhood because it
shows the interaction between the speaker and the neighbor. The speaker and the
neighbor meet to walk, however while walking both of them also creating the wall
between them. From this, it can be concluded that those lines gives a portrait about
how the speaker and the neighbor interact. Humans are complex creatures; we
always adjust ourselves with our surrounding. However, it does not always have to
be like that, from the lines above it can be interpreted that people also have their
preference. Some people want to live by their own and it is natural. We have our
ego and none cannot stop us from it. The gaps between each other are created
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unconsciously. Here, Frost wants to show the side of human’s nature. The last is
consonance, it occurs in lines 22-27:
“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.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’”
From those lines, it can be seen that those lines have many consonances.
It can be said that Frost highlights those words for specific purpose. The lines above
tell how the speaker thinks about the times where they do not need the wall. After
all, the speaker and the neighbor have different corps; the speaker tells the neighbor
that his apple trees will not go into the neighbor’s yard. However, the neighbor only
said that ‘Good fence makes good neighbor’. From this, it can be interpreted there
is conflict occurs in the neighborhood about perspective and ego. The speaker
thinks there should not be any limit between the speaker and neighbor since he
knows that he will not go beyond the limit. However, the neighbor does not think
the same, the neighbor thinks that the wall is a good thing, therefore; it shows the
different perspective from both sides. , it also shows the ego from both side. Both
of them persist to hold their own perspectives about the existence of wall.
In conclusion, it is safe to say that here Frost wants to show the conflict
between human being happens daily life which is different point of view and ego.
As people who live in the same area, it is normal to have that kind of sense. We
may think that we should be close in order to have a good relation. However, not
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everyone thinks like that. It is very selfish to ask other to agree with our opinion. It
is a fact that this kind of conflict happen in our lives, maybe in another
circumstances. Here, Frost wants to show the conflict in a simple way.
In suprasegmental, there is rhyme. In the poem “Mending Wall” there is
only one rhyme occurs which is eye rhyme. The rhyming words are “wall” and
“well, rhyme in the poem is used to give aesthetic sounds. The word “wall” occurs
three times ended with the word “well” as shown below:
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (Line 1)
“There were it is we do not need the wall:” (Line 23)
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (Line 35)
“And he likes having thought of it so well” (Line 44)
From those lines, it could be interpreted that Frost wants to make the poem
sound musical with words “wall” and “well” in the end. Other than that, it also
means that Frost emphasis existence of “wall” because it is being mentioned three
times. As stated before, Frost casts the wall on real and figurative ways. From the
rhyming lines, it shows the importance of “wall” in the poem. First, it mentions
about there are people who do not like the wall (the neighbor), then it says the fact
about speaker who thinks the wall is meaningless. Continuously, it mentions again
there are people who do not like the wall (the neighbor). After that, it is ended with
the neighbor’s side that he already thought about the wall so well.
From this, it could be interpreted that the “wall” in this poem acts as the
main cause of the conflict happens in the poem. The “wall” is depicted as an
invisible barrier created by human’s mind in neighborhood. Other than that, it
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shows how the speaker and the neighbor react over the “wall” which affects the
relationship between each other. As shown above, the speaker thinks that the wall
is meaningless. On the other hand, the neighbor thinks that the wall is a good thing.
Another stylistic features that is analyzed is graphology. The first
graphology is contraction. Contractions are used to shorten the words, usually
contraction appears in informal writing including poetry. Contractions in here are
divided into two, contraction apostrophe (doesn’t, isn’t, and it’s) and contracted
pronoun (I’d and Father’s). Poetry uses contraction to lower the amount of syllable
in order to keep up with the meter composition. “Mending Wall” is a blank verse
poem, in other word it is a poem with unrhymed lines in iambic pentameter.
Therefore, contractions in this poem are used to adjust with the meter. However,
contractions in poem also contributes to construct meaning of the poem.
Contractions in the poem “Mending wall” can be seen as the speaker satires his
neighbor about their perspective upon the “wall”. The contractions are shown
below,
Something there is that doesn't love a wall, (Line 1)
Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it (Line 30)
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know (Line 32)
Something there is that doesn't love a wall, (Line 35)
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather (Line 37)
He will not go behind his father's saying, (Line 43)
When all the lines with contractions are listed as above, it creates a new
group of lines. From those lines, it could be seen that it was the speaker who said
the lines. Therefore, it could be interpreted as the speaker satires to his neighbors
about their thinking. According to Webster, satire is a literary work holding up
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human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn (Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary, 1981, p. 1018). Satire is used as a way to criticize implicitly; usually it
includes humor or jokes In poem “Mending Wall” line 30, the speaker satires about
why the “wall” make good neighbors, the contraction isn’t it is used to strengthen
the question that is said by the speaker. Then, the speaker keeps mentioning the
fact that he does not like the wall (Line 1 and 35) with contraction doesn’t. The
speaker also says sarcastic joke that is not elves who hates the wall but the speaker
himself, the contraction I’d is also used to strengthen the fact it is the speaker who
hates the wall. In the end, the speaker alludes the neighbors’ conservative mind
which is following the tradition of their parent. The line, He will not go behind his
father’s saying, refers to the neighbors’ perspective to keep the wall because it is
already taught by their parent, here it mentions father. The contraction father’s is
used to give the information that it was his father who taught about keeping the wall
and the neighbor would not against his taught.
In conclusion, contractions in the poem “Mending Wall” are used to show
the speaker’s satire towards the neighbors and strengthen the sentences. From the
lines above, the satire can be interpreted that there is sense of negative sentiment of
the speaker to the neighbors. Thus, it shows what is happening in human’s relation
that we may dislike others’ acts or way of thinking that lead us to have the negative
sentiment towards the person.
The second graphology is direct speech. According to Wales, direct speech
itself represents thought, in so far as speech itself is assumed to be the result of
mental activity (2011, p. 120). Earland adds that direct speech focuses on creating
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a mental representation of the described situation (The Influence of Direct and
Indirect Speech on Mental Representations, 2013). It can be concluded that Frost
uses direct speech to give illustration to the reader about how the situation happens.
The direct speech in the poem illustrates the situation of the speaker’s reaction
towards the neighbor’s decision of keeping the wall as in line 27, 30, and 45.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 27)
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it (Line 30)
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 45)
In line 27, the speaker shows the disappointment towards the neighbors’
saying about the fences that make good neighbors. The word “only” strengthens the
expression of disappointment. In line 30, the speaker questionings why the
neighbors want to make good neighbors by keeping the wall. Lastly, line 45
emphasizes the disappointment towards the neighbors once again. The word
“again” give an information that the speaker has hear what the neighbor’s saying
before. Therefore, direct speech in poem is used to support the meaning of poem by
giving the illustration of speaker’s reaction towards the neighbor’s decision of
keeping the wall. Other than that, the direct speech in the poem also used to show
the point of view about the wall from the neighbors’ side.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 27)
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’ (Line 45)
The direct speech above shows that the subject “he” refers to the neighbor.
Therefore, the lines above show the neighbors’ opinion that they see the wall as
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something that is able to make good neighborhood. Thus, it can be interpreted that
direct speech helps to infer the meaning because it explains how both sides (the
speaker and the neighbors’) reaction towards the wall.
The third graphology is punctuations. Since poem “Mending Wall” only
have one stanza contains 45 lines, Frost uses many commas, semi colons, and
colons in sentences. As stated before that comma is place to give a brief pause and
separate thought, while semi colon shows a break in sentences but stronger than
comma and colon acts as a pause to give information that is related. As a blank
verse poem with only one stanza, punctuation in the poem “Mending Wall” can be
interpreted as a way to separate group of lines. Unlike other poems which separate
by stanzas. Frost uses comma, semi colon, and colon as a sign that some ideas is
not complete yet, on the other hand, when the ideas is complete he uses period as a
sign. An example is shown in lines 1-11 below:
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.”
From the lines above it can be seen that lines 1-3 Frost uses comma and
semi colon, then in line 4 he uses period. In lines 1-4, the poem tells about the
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people who dislike the wall which is built to separate the properties between each
other’s. The people who dislike the wall put the frozen-ground-swell under the wall
to scrape the wall until it has gaps so it will collapse. As stated before that the “wall”
also acts in figurative way, these lines can be interpreted as Frost showing that
humans create invisible barrier with their mind that close themselves to interact
with others. However, there are people who actually dislike the barrier and want to
destroy it.
Continuously, lines 5-11 says about something different. It says about the
hunters which can be told as animal breaks the walls, but the speaker who dislikes
the wall come to repair the wall. None has seen or heard the neighbors make the
wall, but it is always there when the spring comes. Here, it can be interpreted that
even when the speaker dislikes the barrier he actively contributes in its preservation.
The speaker continuously acts to rebuild the invisible barrier between himself and
the neighbors.
Thus, the two group of lines can be interpreted as an irony. Wales states
that irony is a figure of speech or trope derived from Gk eironeia via Latin, and
meaning ‘dissimulation’ (2011, p. 240). Irony is found when the words are used to
contradict the sense that required in the context and presumably by the speaker’s
utterance. Irony is mostly sarcastic, it presents as a polite form of criticism. In poem
“Mending Wall”, the speaker who dislikes the barrier and wants to destroy it in the
other hand actively rebuild the barrier. As discussed in the review of related studies
by Zhang, Frost concentrates on the dramatic conflict in natural world which
involve human (2017 ). Here, the irony in the poem “Mending Wall” can be said
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as the dramatic conflict of the poem because the poem sequentially tells about the
speaker who dislikes the existence of the wall and how the neighbors see the wall.
However, the speaker also enjoy the habit of meeting the neighbors while rebuild
the wall. Here, Frost shows how complicated human’s relationship is.
The last graphology that is analyzed is dashes. The poem “Mending Wall”
consists of en dash. As explained before, en dashes are used to denote connection
of two or three words. Therefore, Frost uses dashes to connect the words with
different part of speech. As in line 2, frozen-ground-swell, these words consist of
adjective, noun, and verb. It can be seen that those words have different part of
speech, however those words are still capable to be implied as unity to support
meaning of the poem.
Grammatical level also contributes meaning of the poem. The researcher
notices that Frost uses present tense in most of the lines. The use of present time in
a poem can be inferred as a sign that the moral value of the poem is applicable for
anytime, depend on when the readers read the poem. The present tense in the poem
“Mending Wall” can be identify from the use of verb which is verb 1. Verbs are
used to tell what the subject of the sentences or clauses is doing (being). Here, it
can be interpreted that Frost uses verbs to show how the subject (the speaker and
the reader) reacts upon the wall. For example, as in line 23:
“There where it is we do not need the wall:”
The line above uses the negative formula for simple present tense, which
is Subject + Do/Does not +verb1+ Complement. The subject is “we” followed by
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“do not” because it the subject is plural, then followed by the verb “need”, and
followed by complement which is “the wall”. From the line, it can be interpreted
that the subject refers to the speaker and other people who think the existence of the
wall is meaningless. From this it can be concluded that the speaker sees the wall as
something negative and useless. On the other than, line 45 says something different.
“He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’”
Following the formula of simple present tense which is Subject+ Verb+
Complement, the subject of this line is “he” followed by “says again” because the
subject is third singular person, and followed by subject complement “Good fences
make good neighbors.” From this, it could be interpreted that the neighbor thinks
there should be barrier between the neighbor and the speaker so one another can
have their own space. Thus, the neighbor sees the wall could bring them into a good
relation. In conclusion, the use of present tense in the poem “Mending Wall” is to
support the moral value and to give the reader explanation about how the subject
(the speaker and the neighbor) in the poem react towards the “wall”.
The last stylistic feature is semantics. In semantic level, the researcher
notices four rhetorical devices which contribute meaning of the poem, those are
metaphor, simile, symbolism, and imagery. Frost was renowned with his expertise
using rhetorical devises. Rhetorical devices are used to convey meaning in a simple
way, however it will still have the original meaning. First rhetorical device is simile.
Simile in the poem “Mending Wall” occurs in line 40:
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“He said it for himself. I see him there” (Line 38)
“Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top” (Line 39)
“In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed” (Line 40)
The lines above show that the sentence “I see him there” refers to the
neighbor, therefore simile “like and old-stone savage armed” points out to the
neighbor as well. The sentence “like and old-stone savage armed” can be implied
as the speaker compares the neighbor as primitive being who cannot accept change.
The speaker in the poem wants a change in the neighborhood where both of them
can interact more without the invisible barrier created. Yet, the neighbor is someone
who stick to the habit which already been done before.
The second rhetorical device is symbolism. According to Wales, a symbol
is a sign, whether visual or verbal, which stand for something else with a speech
community (2011, p. 408). Different places with each culture develop their own
symbols or symbolism, such as cross symbolizes as Christian. In literature, they
drew on general symbols such as winter as death and rose as beauty; these symbols
can be categorized as literary heritage. However, poets also able to make their own
symbols for their poems. The symbols will be used to deliver meaning of the poems.
The symbol in poem “Mending Wall” is the “wall” itself. The “wall” is
used as the main conflict in the poem, the poem uses “wall” as the symbol because
“wall” in literal means vertical brick/stone structure that divide two areas in another
word “wall” is used as a barrier to separate properties. In figurative way, the “wall”
in the poem can be interpreted as an invisible barrier created by human’s mind.
Here, it can be said that Frost uses the figurative “wall” to convey the meaning of
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the poem which is conflict and human’s relationship through how the speaker and
neighbor sees the “wall”.
The last rhetorical device is Imagery. Imagery in poem “Mending Wall”
occurs two times in lines 42:
“He moves in darkness as it seems to me,” (Line 41)
In line 42, the imagery can be seen from the word “darkness”. Originally, image
had a visual meaning, still common in semiotics, of a physical imitation of an
object, as in sculpture, painting, masque (Wales, 2011, p. 215). Both in prose and
poetry, imagery is not merely decoration, but to convey particular things such as
reveal the experience, to reinforce the theme, and characterization. The imagery
“darkness” in line 42 can be interpreted as the deep ego that the neighbor has. The
neighbor in the poem is the one who does not want to remove the wall, no matter
how much the speaker tries he always firm with his saying that good fences will
make good neighbor. Therefore, Frost uses the imagery “darkness” to shows the
ego of the neighbors.
From the three rhetorical devices, it can be concluded that rhetorical
devices in a poem are used to support the meaning of the poem. The simile and
imagery in the poem “Mending Wall” helps to show more about the characteristic
of the neighbor. The symbolism is used to show the main cast of the poem and how
the cast is used as the trigger of the conflict between the speaker and the neighbor.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This chapter presents the results of the analysis that has been done in the
previous chapter. The research pursues acknowledgement to how the role of
stylistic through different language levels contribute to reveal the meaning of every
part of the poem. Although the ways of understanding a poem may be different for
every reader, the most important thing is to achieve the author’s message to the
reader. After all, the reason an author writes a poem is to deliver particular meaning
for the reader. In this research, the meaning of poem “Mending Wall” can be
achieved by breaking down the stylistic features and evaluating how the features
are used to construct meaning of the poem.
This research analyzes a poem by Robert Frost entitled “Mending Wall”.
The poem is about two rural neighbors that one spring day meet to walk along the
wall that separates their properties and repair when it need to be repaired. The
speaker of the poem the one who questioning the existence of a wall. However, the
neighbors were conservative and it looks like they do not have time for nonsense.
The first problem is to find the stylistic features in the poem. The problem is
answered by using four language levels; those are phonological level, graphological
level, grammatical level, and semantic level. In phonological level, it has segmental
and suprasegmental sound features. The segmental features cover alliteration,
assonance, and consonance. The sound features which is applied the most is
consonance, as the poem has 12 different consonants which are repeated in the
poem. Followed by alliteration and assonance which has 10 different consonants
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and vowel repeated. Meanwhile suprasegmental features over only rhyme that is
eye rhyme. The sound features are not used only to create an aesthetic effect. It is
also used to help revealing the meaning of the poem. In graphological level,
punctuations are used to separate the lines since the poem does not have stanzas and
to highlight the important words in the poem. In grammatical levels, four tenses are
found. The most used tense is present tense, the use of present tense can be
interpreted that the messages of the poem is applicable for lifetime. The last is
semantic level, semantic level covers some rhetorical devices which are simile,
symbolism, and imagery. The rhetorical devices help to support the meaning of the
poem.
The stylistic features that are found in the poem “Mending Wall”
contribute to reveal meaning of the poem and it is answered in the second problem.
Altogether, the stylistic features in the poem deliver the meaning of the poem that
is conflict and relationship in human’s life.
As the conclusion of this research, Robert Frost as the author of the poem
“Mending Wall” utilizes such stylistic features that deliver the meaning of the
poem. This research also proves that the meaning of a poem can be successfully
obtained and understood by stylistic analysis.
Stylistic analysis should improve further analyses, therefore the research
would like to suggest other researchers to conduct similar analysis in different
object. The object of study can be other poems or other literary works such as
novels, and short stories that have not been analyzed before. The improvement of
the analysis can be done in exploring the language levels. As this research only
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analyzed four language levels, the researcher suggests to analyze more language
levels. As a result, a through and wholesome analysis can be expected from the
researchers.
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APPENDICS
“Mending Wall”
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor 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!’
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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.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. 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.
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He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
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