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Robert FrostA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Leaves are a recurring image in Frost’s poem, specifically leaves that have changed due to the progressing season. “Thy leaves have ripened to the fall” (Line 2) is evocative of leaves that are colorful and dry, prone to shedding from their trees at any moment. In the poem, leaves are also described in relation to the leaves on clusters of grapes. The line “whose leaves are already burnt with frost” (Line 19) refers to leaves that have endured a hard frost and are closer to dying because of it.
Leaves have long been associated with humans. The first people, Adam and Eve, covered themselves with leaves, and much like people, leaves are numerous, unique, and undergo a life cycle including birth, aging, and death. It is fitting, then, that Frost uses the symbol of leaves to explore the subjects of time and death when considered in relation to his own mortality (and human mortality at large).
In much the same way as he uses leaves, Frost uses grapes, “whose clustered fruit must else be lost” (Line 20), to apply a temporal marker to a physical, natural object. In art and literature, fruit—grapes and otherwise—has been known to represent earthly pleasures and fertility.
By Robert Frost
Acquainted with the Night
Acquainted with the Night
Robert Frost
After Apple-Picking
After Apple-Picking
Robert Frost
A Time To Talk
A Time To Talk
Robert Frost
Birches
Birches
Robert Frost
Dust of Snow
Dust of Snow
Robert Frost
Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice
Robert Frost
Mending Wall
Mending Wall
Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Robert Frost
Once by the Pacific
Once by the Pacific
Robert Frost
Out, Out—
Out, Out—
Robert Frost
Putting in the Seed
Putting in the Seed
Robert Frost
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
The Death of the Hired Man
The Death of the Hired Man
Robert Frost
The Gift Outright
The Gift Outright
Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
West-Running Brook
West-Running Brook
Robert Frost