After Apple Picking Quotations
Quotes
Explanation: The ladder reaching “toward heaven” shows the speaker’s dream, effort, and longing for something higher. It can mean both human ambition and the journey of life itself.“My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still.”
Explanation: The speaker expresses deep exhaustion. The line reflects human weariness after continuous work, suggesting both physical tiredness and emotional fatigue.“For I have had too much
Of apple-picking.”
Explanation: This short line shows the thin line between wakefulness and sleep. It hints at the nearness of death or deep rest after a long life of labor.“I am drowsing off.”
Symbols
- Apple: The apple stands for life’s rewards, experiences, and achievements. Picking apples means living and working hard. The unpicked apples show incomplete dreams or missed goals.
- Ladder: The ladder reaching toward heaven symbolizes human desire and ambition. It also suggests a link between earthly work and spiritual reflection.
- Sleep: Sleep symbolizes both rest and death. The “long sleep” may mean eternal rest. It shows life’s end after labor.
- Winter: Winter is a symbol of death, rest, and the natural end of life’s cycle. It marks the close of activity and the beginning of silence.
- Barrel: The empty or half-filled barrel symbolizes unfulfilled work. It reflects the speaker’s feeling that some parts of life remain incomplete.