Robert Frost
Robert Frost is well known for his many symbolic poems. "After Apple-Picking" and "Birches" are two very symbolic poems of quest. Frost uses symbols and his writing style to emphasize his idea of the complexities of life and the necessity of finding ways to manage life's ambiguities. The quest for knowledge is one of the most important expeditions in life. Death is also a quest interpreted by Robert Frost. These two quests are used by frost to articulate ways in which all people can rise above problems in life. The quest for knowledge and death are both accentuated in the poem "After Apple-Picking." Robert Frost uses many symbols to represent a deeper meaning of his poems. The dictionary definition of regret is, sorrow caused by something beyond one's power to remedy. This seems to be the state of our speaker, for he states reflectively, "And there's a barrel that I didn't fill beside it, and there may be two or three apples I didn't pick upon some bough. But I am done with apple-picking now". We have established that the apple represents both life and death, and in this instance may we go even further and say that these particular apples represent life experiences, these experiences were m
The description of the boy at play, "He learned all there was/To learn about not launching out too soon", ". The speaker again states "and I keep hearing from the cellar bin the rumbling sound of load on load of apples coming in". We have established a meaning for sleep in this poem, yet Frost now has compared two different kinds of sleep. Most people remember their youthful years of living without stress and problems; and some of these people even wish to go back to that time of their life. The last eight lines seem to be the most important of the poem. He quickly addresses the idea of fate and explains that he doesn't want his wish "half " granted; he does not want to die; he only wants to go back to a time when life was care free and easy. "Birches" by Robert Frost is a nostalgic poem filled with fond memories and fantasies, yet at the same time the speaker reveals his longing to escape. Of course, a boy will learn of balance and heights while climbing trees, but there is an underlying admission that he is growing up. Or perhaps knowledge that was not gained, but was desired. From this it seems that our speaker has caught a glimpse of his reflection in the "drinking trough" and has noticed that the reflection was "hoary", or gray with age. The description of the boy swinging from branch to branch could also be construed as a metaphor: a boy's actions swinging from birches represents his learning through feeling out situations and making mistakes while growing. This fantasy world is a place where children in every day life create, and in which the speaker can remember creating several years ago. The reverence in which he speaks of them, the word "cherish", and the actions described give us the sense that the speaker is suddenly now, in reflection, realizing how important this "fruit" was. It is very human to fear death, not just the act of dying, but rather the end of something. The idea of trees being bent by ice and snow is much less romantic than the idea of a young boy enjoying himself, teaching himself some lessons about Physics and life.
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Acceptance Essays
