The speaker of the poem describes the myriad reasons he has to come out and repair the stone wall between his own and his neighbor's property, even though he does not actually like the wall or feel that it is necessary. He first describes the effects of the winter's freezing and thawing, and then he says,
The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repairWhere they have left not one stone on a stone,But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,To please the yelping dogs. (lines 5–9)
It seems, then, that hunters come barreling through the property, running after their dogs (who are chasing after rabbits). They fail to exercise care for this reason, and the hunters end up disturbing the stones in the fence, knocking them over so that they are not stacked even two stones high in those spots. In the excitement of the chase, the hunters knock the stones down, and the speaker is forced to follow behind and repair the damage.
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