"After Apple-Picking" is a poem by Robert Frost. Rural New England is a common setting for many of Frost's early poems, and this one is no exception. The poem is set after the speaker has finished a seemingly ordinary day of apple picking, and is now halfway to sleep and dreaming. While many of Frost's poems use strict iambic pentameter and a formal rhyme scheme, "After Apple-Picking" defies such regular rhythm and rhyme as it mimics the often disorienting process of falling asleep. The poem was included in North of Boston, Frost's second poetry collection. Published in 1914, North of Boston was widely praised and advanced Frost's reputation as a major voice in American poetry.
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The Full Text of “After Apple-Picking”
1My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
2Toward heaven still,
3And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
4Beside it, and there may be two or three
5Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
6But I am done with apple-picking now.
7Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
8The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
9I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
10I got from looking through a pane of glass
11I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
12And held against the world of hoary grass.
13It melted, and I let it fall and break.
14But I was well
15Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
16And I could tell
17What form my dreaming was about to take.
18Magnified apples appear and disappear,
19Stem end and blossom end,
20And every fleck of russet showing clear.
21My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
22It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
23I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
24And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
25The rumbling sound
26Of load on load of apples coming in.
27For I have had too much
28Of apple-picking: I am overtired
29Of the great harvest I myself desired.
30There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
31Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
32For all
33That struck the earth,
34No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
35Went surely to the cider-apple heap
36As of no worth.
37One can see what will trouble
38This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
39Were he not gone,
40The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
41Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
42Or just some human sleep.
The Full Text of “After Apple-Picking”
1My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
2Toward heaven still,
3And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
4Beside it, and there may be two or three
5Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
6But I am done with apple-picking now.
7Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
8The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
9I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
10I got from looking through a pane of glass
11I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
12And held against the world of hoary grass.
13It melted, and I let it fall and break.
14But I was well
15Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
16And I could tell
17What form my dreaming was about to take.
18Magnified apples appear and disappear,
19Stem end and blossom end,
20And every fleck of russet showing clear.
21My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
22It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
23I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
24And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
25The rumbling sound
26Of load on load of apples coming in.
27For I have had too much
28Of apple-picking: I am overtired
29Of the great harvest I myself desired.
30There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
31Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
32For all
33That struck the earth,
34No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
35Went surely to the cider-apple heap
36As of no worth.
37One can see what will trouble
38This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
39Were he not gone,
40The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
41Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
42Or just some human sleep.
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“After Apple-Picking” Summary
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“After Apple-Picking” Themes
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Worry, Work, and Sleep
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Creativity and Dissatisfaction
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The Cycle of Life and Death
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “After Apple-Picking”
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Lines 1-2
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still, -
Lines 3-8
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.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off. -
Lines 9-13
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break. -
Lines 14-17
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take. -
Lines 18-23
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend. -
Lines 24-29
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired. -
Lines 30-31
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall. -
Lines 32-36
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth. -
Lines 37-42
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
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“After Apple-Picking” Symbols
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Apples
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Sleep
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Ladder
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“After Apple-Picking” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Allusion
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Assonance
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Caesura
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Consonance
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Diacope
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Enjambment
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Hyperbole
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Extended Metaphor
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Anthropomorphism
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Metaphor
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Epizeuxis
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“After Apple-Picking” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Bough
- Essence
- Skimmed
- Drinking trough
- Hoary
- Russet
- Instep arch
- Cherish
- Spiked
- Stubble
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “After Apple-Picking”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“After Apple-Picking” Speaker
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“After Apple-Picking” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “After Apple-Picking”
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More “After Apple-Picking” Resources
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External Resources
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Robert Frost's Biography — A summary of Frost's life as a poet and his publications.
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Quotes from Robert Frost — A collection of readers' favorite lines from Frost's writing.
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Robert Frost reads "After Apple-Picking" — An audio-recording of Robert Frost reading "After Apple-Picking," along with the text of the poem.
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"Robert Frost's America" — A 1951 Atlantic Magazine article providing an in-depth look at the people and region of Robert Frost's New England.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Frost
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