After Apple-Picking Questions 1-6

1.     He conveys them the best in lines 8, 21, and 31. In line eight, he reminisces about the sleepy smell of apples, and how it’s making him drowsy. I can relate because as a kid, my family used to pick apples and make them into cider, and the same smell comes to mind as the one he hints at. During line twenty-one, he mentions the ache of his instep, and how the pressure is causing a dull pain, familiar to all that have set foot on a ladder. In line 31, he speaks of the anticipation you get when lifting down one the fruits; scared it might drop, but excited to add it to your loot. His images are comforting, like the purr of a cat or the smell of old leather, and familiar to all.

2.     I think he finds it enjoyable, but tedious only because it’s everyday, the same thing again and again. He speaks of his work with a monotonous comfort, like he enjoys the lack of variety.

3.     I think the fact that he describes his dream in the present tense means that he’s had the same one many times, and it’s become routine. Or that it’s so similar to his daily life that he doesn’t find it necessary to differentiate between the two of them. When he goes into describing his dream, he is predicting what will happen because he knows tonights sleep will be different from any other experience he's had. 

4.     I don’t think he fears it, but that he is wondering what to expect, hence the repetition. It sounds like the Apple Picker has been tired all day, and now, after coming home from work, he wonders if tonight’s sleep will be deeper than before. 

5.     Ladder: the ladder is “sticking through a tree, toward heaven still,” and the higher he climbs, the closer he gets to the afterlife. It’s like a connection.

The Season: fall is turning into winter, which is not only the end of the year, a time for things to be dying, but also when animals are hibernating or sleeping.

The Harvest: he remarked “For I have had too much of apple picking – I am overtired”. He says this line with a sort of finality, like he isn't planning on revisiting the orchard again. The hard labor of his daily job is taking its toll, and he can't fight through the drowsiness anymore. 

Pane of Glass: the author says “but I was well upon my way to sleep before it fell”. My first thought was that the piece of glass was an symbol for the Apple-Picker's body falling away and allowing his soul to continue up the ladder without further hinderance. When the glass broke, it was a foreshadow to his death. 

Essence: “essence of winter sleep…” The words 'winter sleep' mean hibernation, and I’m still thinking that sleep and the death that winter brings are a symbol for his coming demise.

6.     He is asking for some reassurance that it is not death coming for him (Long Sleep), and hoping that the woodchuck, an animal who sleeps till spring, would say it is just some human sleep.