AFTER APPLE PICKING

-ROBERT FROST
Robert Frost: After apple Picking
Robert Lee Frost was born in 1874. He was one of the
most popular American poets of the 20th century. He
was named after the famous General Robert Lee of
the American Civil War. After his education he settled
down with his family at a farm in New Hampshire.
There for a number of years he wrote but was unable
to make a mark. So he went over to England where
his works received high praise. With his reputation
established he returned to America. He won many
prizes and medals for his works. He died in 1963.

An apple-picker has stuck his ladder through an apple

tree. The ladder is pointing towards the sky. There is
an unfilled empty barrel below the apple tree. There
are some unpicked apples on some of the boughs of
the apple tree. The apple picker is tired. So he retired
from apple-picking.

It is a winter night. The apples blossom and the

flowers are rich in fragrance. The fragrance of the
apples is like the essence of winter season. This very
scent of apples fills the night air. The apple-picker
feels tired. His eyes are dreamy and he is feeling
drowsy. The winter season and the scent of the
apples have induced a sleepy mood. All the objects of
nature appear strange to him. He falls into trance and
starts dreaming. The apple-picker dreams of
unusually big sized apples appearing and
disappearing. The ladder is being swayed to and fro
by the blowing mind. The scene shifts and the apple
picker finds himself in his cellar bin. He hears the
rumbling of carts bringing load after load of apples.
The barrels make the noise of loaded apples being
rolled into the stock room. The over work has
strained the apple-picker. He wished for a bumper
harvest. The harvest of apples has been ampler than
he thought. When he did get a bumper harvest, he
was too tired to gather the apples. He had to leave
the work unfinished. Each one of the apples was
picked carefully. It was cherished for the feel of it.
Then it was dropped into the cider-heap below as if it
was of no worth. The strange sleep the poet is having
is disturbing hem. He does not understand the nature
and real meaning of the sleep. He is completely
overwhelmed by his strange sleep. The apple-picker
does not know whether it is just an ordinary human
sleep or is it going to be long winter sleep of
hibernation? The apple picker wonders whether the
sleep is going to be the deep sleep of the woodchuck,
the North American rodent of the squirrel family.
 Essay
Write a critical appreciation of the poem 'After Apple
Picking
Introduction
The poem After Apple Picking is said to have helped
Frost to establish his popularity. This poem seems to prove
his theory. According to him it is a happy and sad blending.

The poem is about apple-picking and the drudgery of

it. The apple-picker is in the orchard. He has almost finished
with the picking of apples. He is very tired. He feels drowsy.
He has stuck his ladder through an apple tree. The ladder is
pointing towards the sky (heaven).

It is a winter night. The apples blossom and the

flowers are rich in fragrance. The fragrance of the apples is
like the essence of winter season. The very scent of apple
fills the night air. The apple-picker wished for a bumper
harvest that year. The harvest of apples has been ampler
than he thought. Tens of thousands of apples has been
picked up. The winter and overwork act like opiate on him.
So Sleep is induced.

The apple-picker sees unusually big sized apples in

his dream. They are appearing and disappearing in a misty
manner. The ladder is being swayed to and fro by the
blowing wind. The scent shifts and the apple-picker is in his
cellar bin. He hears rumbling of carts bringing load after
load of apples. The barrels make the noise of loaded apples
being rolled into the stock room.

The strange sleep he is having is disturbing him. He

does not understand the nature and the real meaning of the
sleep. He is completely overwhelmed by his sleep. He does
not know whether it is just an ordinary human sleep or
hibernation. He wonders whether it is going to be the long
winter sleep of the woodchuck.

Critics are of the opinion that the entire poem itself is

a symbol. They say it refers to the poetic career of the poet.
The apple-picker is none other than the poet himself. The
drowsiness of the poet stands for the cycle of seasons. The
sleepiness of the apple-picker indicates the death wish and
the unpicked apples refer to the unfinished work of the
poet. The ladder in the beginning symbolises the poet's
mind. Thus the poem is rich with symbols.

Just as Wordsworth paints the Lake District in his

poems. Frost paints New England in his poems. After apple-
picking presents a typical New England farmer. Though his
language is simple, the use of symbols has made his poem
dense and complex. His poems Birches, Mending wall and
AfterApple Picking are typical examples to this.