Poem
– 03
AFTER APPLE
PICKING
Robert
Frost
Comprehension:
A.
Answer the following questions in one sentence each:
1)
Why does the poet say that he is done with apple-picking?
Ans: The poet feels drowsy due to the scent of
apples. So, the poet says that he is done with apple-picking.
2)
What meaning is conveyed through the expression, “instep arch keeps the ache?”
Ans: The meaning conveyed through the expression
“instep arch keeps the ache” is the apple picker feels pain in his foot when he
stands on a ladder.
3)
What does the poet see in his dreams?
Ans: The poet sees harvest of apples in his dreams.
4)
Which phrase in the poem suggests that the poet has had bumper harvest?
Ans: 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.
There were ten thousand fruit to touch.
5)
What helps the poet in balancing his weight on the ladder-round?
Ans: The instep arch of his feet helps the poet in
balancing his weight on the ladder-round.
6)
What is the meaning of “fleck of russet”?
Ans: “fleck of russet” means a very small area of
colour (reddish brown) used here for the colour of apples.
B.
Answer in three or four sentences each:
1)
Why can’t the poet rub strangeness from his sight?
Ans: The poet rubbed strangeness from his sight
because the poet was tired and he thought about his whole day work. He felt lethargic
and when he seemed at the trees he raised the drinking trench, his emotion of sleepiness
is not the result of physical fatigue only.
Ans: “just some human sleep” here it implied to the
sleep in the night, usually by end of day after all work when sleep. Many of
them would tire after whole day’s work and fell asleep. Here poet fell into
sleep and he was not capable to distinguish if he was vanishing or just
resting.
3)
What does the repeated reference to “sleep” in the poem imply?
Ans: The repeated reference to “sleep” in the poem
implies normal nap and demise, the snowy lawn and wintry weather recommend demise.
Here poet does not identify whether the demise will be transformed by spring in
not many days or obscured beneath tedious flurry for all infinity. The poet
doesn’t discern if his existence is end or fatigue of bodily toil.
4)
“For I have had too much
Of
apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest / myself desired.”
Explain
the above lines.
Ans: The apple grower is fully exhausted after a tough
day of work but he is not capable to get away from rational act of work, even
he sees the apples ahead of him. He had preferred and thought of large
crop, but at the present besieged by the amount and vegetation only some on the
twigs devoid of choosing.
5)
“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. ”
What
worth is the poet referring to?
Ans: The poet should not want apples fall down on ground, those should be picked up carefully. Apples would lose their qualities if they fall down and such apples would not have value and crushed.
C.
Answer the following questions in four to six sentences each:
1)
Give the central idea of the poem.
Ans: The poem is highlighting on apple picking, the
apple grower would completely exhausted after a hard day of work and unable to
escape from the mental act of picking apples, many saw apples in their dreams
and felt pain and thought they were standing on a ladder, it was very important
the poet should not want apples fall down on ground, those should be picked up
carefully. Apples would lose their qualities if they fall down and such apples
would not have value and crushed.
2)
Justify the title of the poem, “After Apple-picking”.
Ans: The poet rubbed strangeness from his sight
because the poet was tired and he thought about his whole day work. He felt
lethargic and when he seemed at the trees he raised the drinking trench, his
emotion of sleepiness is not the result of physical fatigue only. The apple
grower is fully exhausted after a tough day of work but he is not capable to
get away from rational act of work, even he sees the apples ahead of
him. He had preferred and thought of large crop, but at the present besieged by
the amount and vegetation only some on the twigs devoid of choosing. The odor
of the apples is invasive, and he can still perceive the sound of the farm
carts shipping heaps of apples into the shed. The poet aims to remind a humor
of uncertainty and lethargy, as if the poet was about to fall to nap and is no
control of his thoughts
