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We have every reason to suppose we’re reading a reasonable self-assessment, and a reasonable, if partial, assessment of his neighbor. It’s the speaker’s attitude that grates. He’s a crusty bird, and a tease; nothing obliges us to like him. But he seems an aware, trustworthy guide to the moment, able to say and see worthwhile things – while patching a wall he knows is going to fall down. He also likes conversation and tries to invent some, to little avail. True, this is the way he wishes to appear. But that doesn’t kill it. Maybe he is justified in that wish. I’d just as soon this speaker as another.
Other than Shakespeare, it's hard to think of a writer likely to last longer than Frost.
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