After Apple-Picking : Quotations
After Apple-Picking is a notable literary work by Robert Frost. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of After Apple-Picking.
Quotations
Quotes
“My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still.”
Explanation: The ladder reaching “toward heaven” shows the speaker’s dream, effort, and longing for something higher. It can mean both human ambition and the journey of life itself.
“For I have had too much
Of apple-picking.”
Explanation: The speaker expresses deep exhaustion. The line reflects human weariness after continuous work, suggesting both physical tiredness and emotional fatigue.
“I am drowsing off.”
Explanation: This short line shows the thin line between wakefulness and sleep. It hints at the nearness of death or deep rest after a long life of labor.
Symbols
- Apple: The apple stands for life’s rewards, experiences, and achievements. Picking apples means living and working hard. The unpicked apples show incomplete dreams or missed goals.
- Ladder: The ladder reaching toward heaven symbolizes human desire and ambition. It also suggests a link between earthly work and spiritual reflection.
- Sleep: Sleep symbolizes both rest and death. The “long sleep” may mean eternal rest. It shows life’s end after labor.
- Winter: Winter is a symbol of death, rest, and the natural end of life’s cycle. It marks the close of activity and the beginning of silence.
- Barrel: The empty or half-filled barrel symbolizes unfulfilled work. It reflects the speaker’s feeling that some parts of life remain incomplete.