Saturday, May 20, 2006

Something there is that doesn't love a wall


In the debate about creating a Berlin Wall type barrier across our southern border how many times have you heard the phrase, “good fences make good neighbors”? The line, of course, is from the Robert Frost poem, “Mending Wall.”

It is refreshing that someone has finally taken the time to read the poem. David Corn has and argues,

… it's time to send in the poetry police, for Frost's poem actually is not a celebration of walls but a questioning of them. His poem "Mending Wall" starts out rather clearly:

Something there is that doesn't love a wall

Corn goes through the poem and concludes,

I doubt he had the US-Mexico border in mind when he penned these lines. But he was clearly wondering about a fellow who clings so solidly to the idea of a wall. Frost's "good fences make good neighbors" line was no policy prescription. It was an illumination of the human tendency to embrace and then stick with a simple and comforting thought. Now, will a member of Congress please insert the entire poem into the Congressional Record?

Read his piece here.

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