December 24, 2025 • 8 mins
We can always wax poetic about food, but we’re not the only ones. As a cold-weather treat, we’re offering up a dramatic reading and discussion of Robert Frost’s poem ‘After Apple-Picking’. Read the poem here: https://poets.org/poem/after-apple-picking
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeartRadio, I'm any.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Reader, and I'm mourned Vogel Bomb, And today we have
an episode for you that's a little something different because okay,
y'all know that we love food poetry, you know, poems
about food, and so we wanted to do a little
dramatic reading for you, you know, just just a little
treat with a little bit of discussion afterwards. And we're
(00:35):
hoping to turn this into a little bit of a
of a of a series over time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yes, and this has been a long time coming. I
think like a year ago.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Oh more than that. Yeah, this has been on our.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Radar, yes, because we do run into food poetry on
the show and we love it so obviously, listeners, if
there is an avenue you think we should go down,
let us know.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh yeah, it helps tremendously if the poem in question
is in the public domain.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Definitely, very much.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We enjoyed not getting sued.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
That is another thing we enjoy greatly. It's the goal
of mine, is that, yes, totally. Oh but okay, for this.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
First one, I brought to the table a poem by
Robert Frost called After apple Picking, and we are a
little late in the year for apple harvesting here in
the Northern Hemisphere, but the poem has a very like
late fall kind of vibe, so I thought I thought
now would be a nice time to share it. Yeah, yeah,
(01:47):
is this one that you're familiar with, Annie.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
No, I am not. This was the first i'd read it.
So excellent.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh a great, okay, all right? So uh so, yeah,
let's let's do the poem. This is after apple Picking
by Robert Frost. My long two pointed ladders sticking through
a tree toward heaven still, and there's a barrel that
I didn't fill beside it, and there may be two
(02:15):
or three apples I didn't pick upon some bough. But
I am done with apple picking.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Essence of winter sleep is on the night, the scent
of apples.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I am drowsing off.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight I got
from looking through a pane of glass. I skimmed this
morning from the drinking trough and held against the world
of hoary grass.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
It melted, and.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I let it fall and break. But I was well
upon my way to sleep before it fell, 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 arc
not only keeps the ache, it keeps the pressure of
(03:01):
a ladder round. I feel the ladder sways, the bough's bend,
and I keep hearing from the cellar bin the rumbling
sound of load on load of apples coming in. For
I have had too much of apple picking. I am
overtired of the great harvest. I myself desired. There were
ten thousand thousand fruit to touch, cherish in hand, lift down,
(03:24):
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.
One can see what will trouble the sleep of mine,
whatever sleep it is. Were he not gone, the woodchuck
could say whether it's like his long sleep as I
(03:44):
describe it's coming on, or just some human sleep. Yeah.
That again is the poem after apple Picking by Robert Frost,
from his collection called of Boston. This was Frost's second collection,
published in nineteen fourteen. Frost himself was born in eighteen
(04:08):
seventy four on the West Coast, and his family moved
back east after his father died when he was a
kid to be closer to extended relatives. The New England
landscape and people's are a lot of what he wound
up writing about, and he was a sort of overnight
success for whom it took twenty years to catch a
(04:28):
break like North of Boston was his first big book,
and he was forty years old with like a lot
of rejections under his belt when that happened. A lot
of his work similar to this piece does feel like
something between homie and dream like and features these really
distinct personalities. One of my favorite things about this poem
(04:51):
is like the mood that I get from them, which
I love, which is like weary and slightly crabby and
completely satisfied.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah, And it's just so it puts you
in a place in a time. The language of it
is really excellent, and I love the the cadence and
the rhyme scheme where the rhymes come where you might
not expect them.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Oh yeah, yeah. It's it's not like a like a
traditional strict verse but but but it's still like creates
these patterns and and this rhythm.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
It's really pretty m h and it is that it
almost feels like the falling of leaves.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I don't know, like it has that sensation of, oh,
this one's falling more quickly, this rhyme is falling more
quickly than this one.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, or like like yeah, like leaves or like a
snowfall coming down. Yeah. And and that just kind of
icy pause of breath that you get, yeah during that
chill type of season. Mm hmm, yeah. Yeah. I I
don't want to I don't want to like belabor this piece.
You know we were talking about when we were talking
about doing this this mini series, like you know, how
(06:06):
to treat it because you know, we've done those food
fairy tales where it's like a very highly produced thing
and like a group effort, and we do a lot
of discussion about the author and the piece itself, like
the history of the piece. But but I think that
this poem pretty much speaks for itself. I mean, you
could certainly argue with our interpretation of it. I like,
(06:30):
like Robert Frost was this really smart, really complicated dude.
He had this this history in academics and literary traditions
and the classics, though he never got a degree, but
he used that to bring these like down to earth
scenes to life. But he was kind of bad at
being down to earth and so like like as a person.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So it's really.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Hard to pick out from his verse, like what is
straightforward and what's commentary, how that commentary is skewing, like
how he meant for it to be skewed, versus how
you the reader are going to pick that up. I'm
into poetry, so I find that process really delightful.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But I do too. I love poetry and also Lauren,
excellent job.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Oh very thank you. This is this is one of
my favorite poems. I just I feel it makes me
so happy.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, we're ostensibly a food show. You can see our
episodes on like Apples and Cider an apple pie, I
guess for more about this sort of vibe.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yes, yes, and again, listeners, please let us know if
you have a poem in mind or a rabbit hole
for us to look down. Yes, segments again, preferably public domain.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I don't want to be sued.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
All love that, but yeah, we would love to hear
from you if you've got a favorite food poem.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Even if we can't read it on air, we would
love to still read.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It absolutely, Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yes, So please let us know. You can email us
at Hello, atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saber pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our superproducers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(08:32):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Hello, and welcome to Saber production of iHeartRadio, I'm any.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Reader, and I'm mourned Vogel Bomb, And today we have
an episode for you that's a little something different because okay,
y'all know that we love food poetry, you know, poems
about food, and so we wanted to do a little
dramatic reading for you, you know, just just a little
treat with a little bit of discussion afterwards. And we're
(00:35):
hoping to turn this into a little bit of a
of a of a series over time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yes, and this has been a long time coming. I
think like a year ago.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Oh more than that. Yeah, this has been on our.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Radar, yes, because we do run into food poetry on
the show and we love it so obviously, listeners, if
there is an avenue you think we should go down,
let us know.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh yeah, it helps tremendously if the poem in question
is in the public domain.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Definitely, very much.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
We enjoyed not getting sued.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
That is another thing we enjoy greatly. It's the goal
of mine, is that, yes, totally. Oh but okay, for this.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
First one, I brought to the table a poem by
Robert Frost called After apple Picking, and we are a
little late in the year for apple harvesting here in
the Northern Hemisphere, but the poem has a very like
late fall kind of vibe, so I thought I thought
now would be a nice time to share it. Yeah, yeah,
(01:47):
is this one that you're familiar with, Annie.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
No, I am not. This was the first i'd read it.
So excellent.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh a great, okay, all right? So uh so, yeah,
let's let's do the poem. This is after apple Picking
by Robert Frost. My long two pointed ladders sticking through
a tree toward heaven still, and there's a barrel that
I didn't fill beside it, and there may be two
(02:15):
or three apples I didn't pick upon some bough. But
I am done with apple picking.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Essence of winter sleep is on the night, the scent
of apples.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I am drowsing off.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight I got
from looking through a pane of glass. I skimmed this
morning from the drinking trough and held against the world
of hoary grass.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
It melted, and.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I let it fall and break. But I was well
upon my way to sleep before it fell, 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 arc
not only keeps the ache, it keeps the pressure of
(03:01):
a ladder round. I feel the ladder sways, the bough's bend,
and I keep hearing from the cellar bin the rumbling
sound of load on load of apples coming in. For
I have had too much of apple picking. I am
overtired of the great harvest. I myself desired. There were
ten thousand thousand fruit to touch, cherish in hand, lift down,
(03:24):
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.
One can see what will trouble the sleep of mine,
whatever sleep it is. Were he not gone, the woodchuck
could say whether it's like his long sleep as I
(03:44):
describe it's coming on, or just some human sleep. Yeah.
That again is the poem after apple Picking by Robert Frost,
from his collection called of Boston. This was Frost's second collection,
published in nineteen fourteen. Frost himself was born in eighteen
(04:08):
seventy four on the West Coast, and his family moved
back east after his father died when he was a
kid to be closer to extended relatives. The New England
landscape and people's are a lot of what he wound
up writing about, and he was a sort of overnight
success for whom it took twenty years to catch a
(04:28):
break like North of Boston was his first big book,
and he was forty years old with like a lot
of rejections under his belt when that happened. A lot
of his work similar to this piece does feel like
something between homie and dream like and features these really
distinct personalities. One of my favorite things about this poem
(04:51):
is like the mood that I get from them, which
I love, which is like weary and slightly crabby and
completely satisfied.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah, And it's just so it puts you
in a place in a time. The language of it
is really excellent, and I love the the cadence and
the rhyme scheme where the rhymes come where you might
not expect them.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Oh yeah, yeah. It's it's not like a like a
traditional strict verse but but but it's still like creates
these patterns and and this rhythm.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
It's really pretty m h and it is that it
almost feels like the falling of leaves.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I don't know, like it has that sensation of, oh,
this one's falling more quickly, this rhyme is falling more
quickly than this one.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, or like like yeah, like leaves or like a
snowfall coming down. Yeah. And and that just kind of
icy pause of breath that you get, yeah during that
chill type of season. Mm hmm, yeah. Yeah. I I
don't want to I don't want to like belabor this piece.
You know we were talking about when we were talking
about doing this this mini series, like you know, how
(06:06):
to treat it because you know, we've done those food
fairy tales where it's like a very highly produced thing
and like a group effort, and we do a lot
of discussion about the author and the piece itself, like
the history of the piece. But but I think that
this poem pretty much speaks for itself. I mean, you
could certainly argue with our interpretation of it. I like,
(06:30):
like Robert Frost was this really smart, really complicated dude.
He had this this history in academics and literary traditions
and the classics, though he never got a degree, but
he used that to bring these like down to earth
scenes to life. But he was kind of bad at
being down to earth and so like like as a person.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So it's really.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Hard to pick out from his verse, like what is
straightforward and what's commentary, how that commentary is skewing, like
how he meant for it to be skewed, versus how
you the reader are going to pick that up. I'm
into poetry, so I find that process really delightful.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
But I do too. I love poetry and also Lauren,
excellent job.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Oh very thank you. This is this is one of
my favorite poems. I just I feel it makes me
so happy.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Yeah, we're ostensibly a food show. You can see our
episodes on like Apples and Cider an apple pie, I
guess for more about this sort of vibe.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Yes, yes, and again, listeners, please let us know if
you have a poem in mind or a rabbit hole
for us to look down. Yes, segments again, preferably public domain.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
I don't want to be sued.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
All love that, but yeah, we would love to hear
from you if you've got a favorite food poem.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Even if we can't read it on air, we would
love to still read.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It absolutely, Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yes, So please let us know. You can email us
at Hello, atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
We're also on social media. You can find us on
Instagram and blue Sky at saber pod and we do
hope to hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our superproducers Dylan
Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
(08:32):
we hope that lots more good things are coming your
way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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