the fruit consume his thoughts He states I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend This indicates that he remains connected to picking apples even in his dreams It shows the depth of his contemplation and the extended nature of his reflections Life's Unfulfilled Goals The speaker's dreams are encumbered with unfulfilled aspirations and missed opportunities He notes For I have had too much Of apple-picking I am overtired Of the great harvest I myself desired These sentences express remorse and an understanding that seeking goals and ambitions can lead to weariness and fullfilment Finally After Apple-Picking utilizes an apple-picking metaphor to address themes of tiredness introspection and the complexities of human needs The speaker's contemplation of dreams emphasizes the consideration of his choices and the impact of those decisions The picture of apples the physical process of gathering them and the speaker's tiredness all come together to provide insights into life's inevitable cycle and the bittersweet feelings accompanying it The poem digs into the introspective nature of the speaker's thoughts as he analyzes his journey and the dreams that remain in his fatigued mind through these aspects