After Apple-Picking Blog Entry

In my opinion, Robert Frost’s “After Apple-Picking” is about a man experiencing the last minutes of his life, feels this “sleep” coming over him, and is thinking about all the things he’s left undone. Several ways he has eluded to this is the ladder, acting as a pathway between Earth and Heaven, and the higher he climbs, the closer he gets. Also, the way he talks about things he hasn’t done, such as the “barrel that I didn’t fill”, the apples he dropped which were then made into cider “as of no worth”, and the fruit he’ll never “cherish in hand, lift down and not let fall” as if he is reminiscing. I think he was saying that he’s ready for death to come for him when he states he’s had too much of apple-picking, and that he’s tired. At the end, the word sleep becomes like a chant before “the long sleep” as if he’s counting sheep, or something to that effect, even though he is still futilely wishing that it’ll just be some “human sleep”. 

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.

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” I think the tone in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is based on his lack of self-confidence and tendency to over think. In every stanza, Prufrock is dwelling on what will go wrong in his attempts to find a woman, because he doesn’t find it probable that someone would ever love him. The idea that he could ever care for anyone, or visa versa, is an impossibility because he finds himself utterly undesirable. One example of this is the way he refers to himself as a bug, pinned to wall by the mocking stares of his peers. The fact that he is comparing himself to something that is usually repulsive to women speaks to how he is responsible for his want, need, and also inability to end his loneliness. Secondly, the language he uses in those two lines, words like: “sprawling” “pinned” and “wriggling”, makes me think of a constant pain being inflicted by someone or something outside of yourself, but really, he is suffering from an internal battle of self worth. To me, it brings out the physical aspect of his struggle, even though his pain is completely mental and self-perpetuated. Another example is how his hair is being used to represent the loss of his youth. Going from the way he spoke of time in the sixth stanza, I think he’s realizing his is passing quickly, and this is how it’s showing. Of course this ties into what he wants and why he can’t have it: a woman who will accept him for who he is, bald spots and all. He has convinced himself, though, that society is to dependent on looks instead of intellect for him to ever truly be accepted, and a man with hair loss and thin limbs is going to be looked down upon regardless of who he is. I think the angsty character of J. Alfred Prufrock, and tedious society T.S. Elliot has placed him in, is a representation of a someone’s own personal hell. Every stanza is making one of Prufrock’s worries that he isn’t good enough a reality, and telling him that everything he feared is true: he isn’t accepted into society, he’s no longer young, his limbs are thinner, his hair is falling out, and because of all these things he may never be loved. This may be speaking to how the author sees himself, or our society as a whole, but the either way the image is not a pretty one.