After Apple Picking

             The poem "After Apple- Picking" by Robert Frost is a vivid description of the main character's chore of picking apples. There is nothing in the poem to suggest that the author of the poem is not the main character as well. The literal meaning of the poem is an explanation of the mind set, and some physical conditions that someone who picks apples might endure. The literal setting of the poem is hinted at; an orchard where the apple trees would grow so he could pick them, and wherever he would go to lie down to sleep at the end of the day.
             I can see where many people would search for deeper meanings within the literal settings and objects found within the poem. For example, the ladder could symbolize the man's life, the apples his opportunities/achievements, and the act of sleeping could equal his death. Whether or not the man is of an older age or not, I do not know. He is, however, definitely looking back over a time period; whether it is the literal day's task of picking apples or the extent of his life that can be taken from an extended meaning.
             I have trouble believing that the literal objects in the poem stand for anything other than what they are, and that all readers should agree on the same concept for the poem's meaning. If one where to search for some symbolic meaning of the ladder, for instance, there is no reason to think it portrays anything other than a simple ladder. If it did symbolize the authors life, or his road to heaven, or his achievements, or his life lived with less sin then why would he describe it as "My long two pointed ladder's...?" It seems to me to be an obvious description of an every day ladder, used to pick apples.
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After Apple Picking. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 03:32, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/25745.html