Frost uses anthropomorphism in his portrayal of the woodchuck, or groundhog. Anthropomorphism is a type of personification in which nonhumans, particularly animals, are made to act like people. By attributing human behavior to a woodchuck, which hibernates during the winter, Frost reminds readers of the universal aspects of the human experience—such as death, which hibernation represents. Further, Frost possibly anthropomorphizes the woodchuck in order to symbolize the uncertainty and fear that the speaker feels when he wonders whether he will awaken as usual from his “human sleep.”

Frost’s repetition of the word “thousand” is an example of epizeuxis, a device in which words are repeated without intervening words between them. In this context, epizeuxis further emphasizes both the speaker’s exhaustion and the excess of the “great harvest” that he once wanted.

Frost makes use of alliteration, or the repetition of consonant sounds, in this line. The repetition of the consonant sound “b” in the words “boughs” and “bend” enhances the bizarre imagery of the scene. Further, alliteration reinforces the poem’s increasingly irregular rhythm, which seems to mimic the disorienting experience of the speaker’s dream.

The noun “fleck” means a mark or spot; the adjective “russet” means brownish or reddish in color. The apples in the speaker’s dream are almost overwhelming in their size, for they are so large that “every fleck of russet” in their flesh is easy to see.

This line contains a diacope, a device in which a word is repeated with intervening words in between. By repeating the word “end,” the speaker effectively captures what it is like being overwhelmed by the size and number of apples in his dream.

Frost employs assonance, or the repetition of the same vowel sound in rapid succession, in this line. The words “magnified,” “apple,” and “and” contain the same “a” vowel sound, whereas the words “appear” and “disappear” contain a slightly different “a” vowel sound. In this case, assonance enhances the poem’s tone as the speaker describes the strange images in his dream.

The adjective “hoary” means grayish or white, especially in reference to something old—such as an aging person’s hair. Frost’s depiction of a “world of hoary grass” indicates that winter, which represents death, is close at hand.

The repetition of words containing the letter “s” in these two lines is an example of sibilance, a device in which the consonant “s” is repeated in order to create a hissing sound when the poem is read aloud. In “After Apple-Picking,” sibilance enhances rhythm and calls attention to the imagery that the speaker is about to describe. Further, the hissing sound of sibilant words develops the poem’s progressively dreamlike tone.

The noun “essence” refers to the basic, intrinsic quality of something, especially something abstract. An essence can also be a fragrance. So, Frost means that the speaker can smell “winter sleep,” which has the “scent of apples,” as he begins to fall asleep and dream.

Apple-picking serves as an extended metaphor, a literary device in which two different things are compared by implying or asserting that they are the same thing, for the ambitions and accomplishments that a person pursues throughout life. An extended metaphor unfolds throughout an entire text and usually uses smaller metaphors for reinforcement. In “After Apple-Picking,” the extended metaphor for a person’s ambitions and achievements is supplemented by the approaching winter sleep, or hibernation, which is a metaphor for death.

Lines three, four, and five use enjambment, in which a thought or phrase that originates in one line continues into the following lines of verse. Enjambment creates movement and a sense of anticipation as the speaker gradually shifts from a waking to a sleeping state.

Frost uses a caesura in his description of apples hanging beside the barrel that the speaker has left unfilled. A caesura is a break within a line of poetry, usually in the form of punctuation such as a comma (,), em dash (—), or ellipses (...). In this context, the comma in the middle of line four augments both the poem’s rhythm and its vivid imagery.

Frost possibly alludes to Jacob’s ladder from the Bible. According to Genesis 28:10-22, Jacob is cast out of Canaan by his mother Rebekah because his brother, Esau, intends to murder him. On his way to Haran, where he is supposed to hide and find a wife with whom to continue the lineage of Abraham, Jacob falls asleep at “a certain place” and begins to dream about a huge ladder that extends all the way up to heaven. He sees angels climbing up and down the ladder and the Lord, who stands at the top, tells Jacob that the land he is sleeping on will be given to him and his offspring.