The imaginative narrator of the poem owns an apple orchard adjacent to another man's property. He questions the necessity of maintaining a boundary where there are no cows to keep contained, viewing the annual repair as an outdoor game. He approaches the task with a playful attitude and privately wishes to dismantle the barriers separating people.

A practical, stoic man who grows pine trees on the land bordering the speaker's orchard. He strictly adheres to the traditions passed down from his family, approaching the wall repair with silent dedication. He values established boundaries and the maintenance of systems, rejecting his companion's attempts to intellectualize or question their annual chore.