New answers tagged symbolism
1
First of all, as explained in the BUR version of the Decameron (Italian original), edited by Amedeo Quondam, Maurizio Fiorilla and Giancarlo Alfano,
i prodotti della caccia erano, e a lungo restarono, di esclusivo e distintivo impiego alimentare per la nobiltà;
that is,
the products of hunting were, and for a long time remained, of exclusive and ...
8
As a student some sixty years ago I picked apples as part of a summer job. That is my only qualification for the following observations.
Orchards today are populated with short trees to make harvesting easier, either mechanically or manually. The trees that I picked were big, and so would have been the trees that Frost is speaking of. A long ladder that is ...
1
'two-pointed' evokes a forked tongue. This creates a synthetic snake/ladder image, which should call to mind Genesis 3 - if the title did not do that already.
4
I think looking at the poem's meaning may be helpful here. If we assume that "After Apple Picking" is a poem about the end of life (the apple picking has been done, the ladder specifically points towards heaven) and looking towards death, it makes sense to see the ladder's side rails as the beginnings of lines that converge at an imaginary point ...
12
Why a 'long two-pointed' ladder, though? Are there ladders with more or fewer points?
I've spent some time pondering this aspect of your question. Ladders are not generally pointed at all, but Orchard ladders are.
However, I don't think the pointy top is strictly relevant to the two-pointed description and can be discounted. Orchard ladders also come in ...
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