Question

Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbours? 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 offence.
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.

What is the speaker’s mood in this excerpt?
unhappy
playful
childish
determined

Answer 1

playful

The speaker is teasing and mischievous—wondering if he can plant an idea in the neighbor’s head, joking about “elves,” and enjoying the thought of provoking a reaction rather than arguing angrily or seriously.