PC on After Apple Picking

A Prac Crit on "After Apple Picking" by Robert Frost

contributed by Augustin Chiam, 6.7



There are several major themes in “After Apple-Picking” that Robert Frost portrays. These themes are sleep, work, illusion versus reality and the choices that we make in life. Frost uses different kinds of vivid imagery to bring out the different themes in his poem.
The first major theme is sleep. The whole poem is presented in a very dream-like state. This dreamy state is introduced in the first two lines where the persona sees his “two-pointed ladder” reaching out “toward heaven still”. This is a reference to the biblical story of Jacob's dream where Jacob saw in his dream a ladder reaching out to heaven. Immediately, the reader is able to see that the persona is experiencing a vision or is dreaming. There are three different kinds of sleep that Frost seeks to portray; nature's sleep, animal sleep and human sleep. Nature's sleep represents the continuous cycle of seasons where leaves fall off and plants wilt in the cold of winter only to be revived again when spring arrives. Frost uses the image of “winter sleep” to show the drowsiness of the persona. This is an effective use of imagery because cold temperatures cause people to be lethargic and drowsy so we can tell that this is not just any kind of sleep but a “winter sleep” that slows down all forms of activity in the persona's life. The phrase “stem end and blossom end” also depicts this seasonal change that causes the apple to fall off the tree only to grow again when the flowers blossom in spring. Here we can see that the “winter sleep” is not a permanent state but rather there is a hope of revival and renewal after the persona awakes from this “winter sleep”. There is further evidence of the sub-theme of renewal and revival with the imagery of the “cider-apple heap”. Apples that go to the cider-apple heap can be reused again to make cider thus showing the aspect of rebirth and a renewal of purpose after the persona awakes from his “winter sleep.” Animal sleep is portrayed in the imagery of a “long sleep” or hibernation like in the case of a “woodchuck”. The concept of hibernation like nature's sleep is not a permanent sleep but rather is a conservation of energy during winter only to awake in spring. Perhaps, this is indicative of Frost's own desire to rest from his work so as to take a break before writing again. Human sleep, in contrast, refers to a permanent state of rest which is death. The fact that the poem ends with the phrase, “or just some human sleep”, shows that human sleep brings about a finality unlike the woodchuck's “long sleep” or the “winter sleep” of nature. I feel that it is Frost's intention to portray “human sleep” as not just a finality but also an effective escape, more effective than merely the “long sleep” or the “winter sleep”, from the heavy burden of work and the troubles that the persona faces by leaving it as his last thought in the poem.
The next major theme that is prevalent in the poem is the nature of work. Frost argues that it is difficult to rest from one's labor. Linked to this is another biblical story relating to work. The Bible records that after the fall of man, God declared that man, from that day forth, cannot fest from his toil. Work and toil are but inevitable processes in a man's life which one cannot escape from. The depiction of falling apples is an allusion to the fall of man as depicted in the Bible. The persona in the poem clearly wants to escape from work because he is “overtired” and “done with apple-picking”. Even so, the tone of the persona is one of resignation because he cannot escape from apple-picking even in his sleep and dreams. The imagery of “magnified apples” appearing and disappearing is a manifestation of his inner desire and it shows that his work continues to haunt him even in his sleep. This indicates that, perhaps, there is no rest from work and that work is inevitable. Even in his dreams, he feels the “ache” and the “pressure of a ladder-round”. He cannot escape from the getting tired physically and mentally because of his work. He still feels the weariness and stress even when he sleeps. The “load on load of apples coming in” is further proof that in his dreams, the work and labor continue to pour in and his burden is not lifted but instead increased. Frost portrays work as a never-ending process that man cannot escape from. There is also a sub-theme of perfection where the persona desires perfection from his work. The persona talks about the “barrel” that he “didn't fill”, which implies that there is a desire to continue working until perfection is achieved by filling the barrel. This theme of perfection is further shown in line 28 where the persona talks about the “great harvest” he desired. The perfection is seen in the fact that he would “cherish in hand, lift down , and not let fall” any of the apples. In contrast, he let the sheet of ice fall and break in line 13 which shows the persona's struggle with the idea of perfection. The thought of apples that he “didn't pick” and a barrel he “didn't fill” is the evidence of the struggle for perfection, the repetition of “didn't” emphasizes the struggle. The conflict arises when perfection is not achieved and cannot be achieved especially when tiredness and weariness sets in because of work.
Illusion versus reality is a recurring theme in the entire poem. Frost uses present, past and present continuous tense in a random fashion which confuses the reader and make it hard to guess when the persona is sleeping and when he is not. This makes it hard to differentiate illusion from the reality. The best example of this theme is found from line 7 to line 17. “Essence of winter sleep is on the night, the scent of apples” shows that there is a mix of sleep and smell, an interesting combination when the different sensations begin to blend and the reader cannot tell apart one from the other. The word “strangeness” adds confusion to the poem because even the persona himself cannot fully comprehend the situation. The “pane of glass” that he holds up is actually a sheet of ice which is suppose to make things clearer yet the grass looks “hoary” or gray which shows that it is instead still very much an illusion rather than reality. The interesting thing to note in line 17 is that the persona claims to know the “form” in which his “dreaming was about to take”. This shows a clarity of thought and yet it is hard to believe that he can have a clarity of thought when the next moment he sees “magnified apples appear and disappear”. This uncertainty that Frost intentionally creates emphasizes the theme of illusion versus reality.
Lastly, the theme of choices is a theme that is also in Road Not Taken, another poem written by Robert Frost. In this poem, apples can be taken as a symbol of the choices that we make. The “two-pointed ladder” represents Frost's view that everything in life has only two shades, its either yes or no, black or white, there are no in-betweens. The apples that he “didn't pick” are representative of the choices he did not take, a variation of the same theme in Road Not Taken, when he chose one path over another. Like in Road Not Taken where there is a struggle to make the right decision, the “load on load of apples” is an unwelcome barrage of decisions which have to be made. The phrase “ten thousand thousand fruit” is a hyperbole to emphasize the sheer number of decisions one has to make in life. Frost shows how decision-making can be a struggle and though we often desire to “cherish” each decision and not let each one “fall”, inevitably there will be those decisions that we abandon for better decisions, hence the imagery of apples that “struck the earth.”
In conclusion, Frost successfully portrays the struggle man has to keep up with perfection in work and the inevitable hardships that one has to endure. Sleep is ultimately not not necessarily the solution as even in one's sleep, the troubles of work can permeate in many different forms. The choices that one has to make in life is also another inevitable struggle of man. It is possible that Frost wrote this poem with the intention of showing his tiredness and weariness in writing and needs a well-deserved break. Whatever the case, the poem shows how work can sometimes be too overwhelming to handle and rest is needed, like the hibernation of the woodchuck, before working again.