The way the past is presented in this poem is very interesting.
A
main point I think is that Frost is referring to the work of harvesting
he has just completed as a farmer. This is referred to in the lines
| And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill |
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| Beside it, and there may be two or three |
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| Apples I didn’t pick upon some
bough.
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A second interesting point is Frost's
state of mind. He has been so obsessed by the work of the harvest during
the day that although he has stopped the physical work he cannot stop
thinking about the work. In fact he recollects the memory of work so
strongly it is as if he is reliving it again in the present. Consider
such lines as
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.
And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
These
lines are really helpful and there are lots to write about them.
Firstly the past comes to him as a dream. It completely dominates his
sleep.We notice he dreams about the apples in lots of detail. He even
imagines his body has kept the shape of the ladder he has used to pick
the apples. And in the last few lines of this quotation he refers
specifically to sensory imagery. He can feel and hear the past directly.
Each one of the sentences above can act as topic sentences for at least four paragraphs.
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| He returns to the work of the day in the following
lines.Frost wants to communicate the enormity of the work he has been
doing. We get a strong impression of the vastness of the orchard, his
love and care of each apple and the work. |
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There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
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. |
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Here you can comment on the use of repetition in the first line and sensory language. Comment on the connotations of the abstract noun 'cherish'. Notice the alliterative effect of 'struck', 'spiked' and 'stuble'.
I hope you find these quotations and comments helpful for your essay. |
