Critical Appreciation - After Apple Picking - Robert Frost - Asad Imran Notes

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Background Information

After Apple Picking is a natural-lyric written by Robert Frost which appeared in his initial collection known as North of Boston in 1914. The poem features a farmer whose,

two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still

The bumper crop of apples is waiting for the sleeping farmer to place them in the "empty barrel". But these are not just ordinary apples, they signify as a symbol of man's unfulfilled desires as well as his hard-earned treasure. This poem showcases Frost's love for natural landscapes.

Critical Analysis of After Apple Picking

Summary

The poem begins with a farmer whose ladder is pointed towards an apple tree and an empty barrel is left, waiting to be filled. In the tasteful scent of apples, the farmer goes to sleep. He gets into a state of dreaming. He looks at the white grass through a transparent sheet of frozen water which he "let it fall and break". Then his dream shows him "magnified apples appeared and disappeared" and he can clearly see spots on these apples. He feels the actual pain of his instep arch for staying long on the ladder. He hears the rumbling of apples from the cellar bin. He is overtired for plucking a gigantic crop of apple,

I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.

The farmer is confuse whether his sleep is like a woodchuck or an ordinary human-like sleep.

Development of Thoughts and Themes

The first theme that shows its prominence is the poet's sheer work and his or her state of sleep. It is certain that he is weary as an aftermath of the harvest that he desired. It is unclear where the poet actually is as he jumps back and forth between his past (his youthful moments) and his present (his old-aged tiredness).

Toil in creativity is the second theme that prevails in this natural lyric. Just like the magnified apples appearing and disappearing, different creative ideas come and go from the mind of an artist. He can only be able to jot down a small number of creative points or even nothing like the empty barrel.

The cycle of life and death is vividly present in this poem. Life is presented through a year of gardenic period. For a time, the orchard is covered under the hoary layer, thus referring to the teenage period of human life when he is unable to see the harsh realities of life. And for the second half of a year, the orchard is bloomed with flowers, thus indicating towards begetting children to expand his family as a result of marriage life. Similarly, the cycle of death is denoted through the hibernation (a long duration of sleep) of woodchuck. An animal that typically wakes up after six months of a long sleep. Thus, the poet might be indicating the afterlife of his death as a spiritual or normal rebirth.

Figurative Language and Symbols

The poem is enriched in symbolic beauty. But some symbols are quite confusing and do not relate to the context of the poem explicitly. For instance, the Biblical inclusion of the symbol of the ladder may indicate towards Jacob's Ladder, that was, again, pointed to heaven, not to pick apples from an apple tree but to secure himself from his jealous brother. There is no definite reference about the jealousy of someone with Frost. But as a definite symbol, the ladder indicates towards the connection between earthily and heavenly life.

Apples signify man's laborious efforts and his unfulfilled desires. Apples may also hint at the Biblical Fall of Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge. These apples play a significant role in displaying the cycle of life and death as the act of collecting apples may indicate death while the reappearance of apples in spring season may hint at the spiritual rebirth.

Sleep as a symbol points at both temporal and eternal sleep. When the poet is overtired of collecting the harvest, he shows his desire for rest. But if we ponder over the poet's comparison of his sleep to that of a woodchuck, it becomes rather clear that the poet is talking about death.

Setting and Images

It is difficult to determine the exact setting of the poem because the poet changes the prospect abruptly. Some lines hint at the poet's night bed while a majority of lines give the impression of a pastoral setting. This poem houses a beautiful set of different forms of imagery. For instance, the 'rumbling sound' of apples is a fine example of auditory imagery while apples, swinging ladder, empty barrel, hoary grass and heap are some eye-catching visual imagery. Similarly, this line gives the impression of olfactory imagery,

The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.

Structural Analysis

The poem is written in the common Yankee language. It is one of the early works of Frost, that is why there is no proper rhyme scheme of the poem. The complete rhyme scheme of After Apple Picking is: ABBACCDEDFEFGHHHGJKJLMLNMNOPPOQQRSTRSUVUVT. The poem is composed of 40 lines and follows iambic-pentameter.

Conclusion

In After Apple Picking, the apple indicated here is the apple of life and afterlife. The poem takes the reader into a brilliant journey adorned with splendid imagery. The poem is a triumph over both classical and modern values.

Critical Appreciation - After Apple Picking - Robert Frost