Robert Frost Imagery

Robert Frost wrote an interesting poem entitled, “After Apple-Picking.” This poem has several fascinating images that cause the reader to wonder what he is really trying to convey.

Through this poem, Frost could possibly be trying to suggest death. This death might either be of life itself, or of writing poetry. There are several times in the poem that he refers to winter, and just as spring is a symbol for life, winter is the image of death. First, he states that the, “essence of winter sleep is on the night.” This could hint at two types of hibernation, creative or physical. Another image of winter is the “pane of glass,” actually a sheet of ice, he lifts from the drinking trough. He also uses the word hoary, meaning snowy, in reference to the grass. One last mention of winter is at the end when he makes a remark about the woodchuck’s long sleep, meaning his hibernation for the winter months.

This poem can also be viewed as one large metaphor. When looking at it that way, it seems plausible to say that it is a suggestion of the effort involved in writing poetry. The harvesting of the apples can be seen as his