What does the speaker of “After Apple-Picking” foretell about his dreaming?

Answer

What does the speaker of “After Apple-Picking” foretell about his dreaming? [NU: 2015, 19]

Robert Frost’s (1874-1963) poem “After Apple-Picking” (1914) tells the story of a tired apple-picker at the end of harvest. The speaker is exhausted, and he feels himself falling into sleep. He also tries to foretell what kind of dreams will come to him.

Dreams of Apples and Work: The speaker says he is “done with apple-picking now.” Though there are more apples on the trees, he will not work anymore. He feels very tired after a long day of work. But the work still fills his mind. As he drifts into sleep, he can already imagine what his dreams will be. He foresees that apples will appear and disappear in his dreams. He sees them magnified, with every detail clear.

“Magnified apples appear and disappear.”

He even feels the ache in his feet from standing long hours on the ladder. He imagines hearing the “rumbling sound” of apples being stored in the cellar bin.

“And I keep hearing…

The rumbling sound

Of load on load of apples coming in.”

This means his sleep will be troubled by the memories of his tiring work.

Restlessness: The speaker feels so tired that he wonders about the kind of sleep he will have. He thinks about whether his sleep will be a long, peaceful sleep of a woodchuck in hibernation, or a restless, troubled sleep of a human being. He feels that his sleep will not be peaceful, because his mind is still busy with thoughts of apples and work.

In short, the speaker foretells that his dreams will be full of apples, ladders, and the aches of harvest. He thinks that his long day of work and tiredness will also affect his sleep.