Gathering Leaves Analysis

Spades take up leaves

No better than spoons,

And bags full of leaves

Are light as balloons.I make a great noise

Of rustling all day

Like rabbit and deer

Running away.But the mountains I raise

Elude my embrace,

Flowing over my arms

And into my face.I may load and unload

Again and again

Till I fill the whole shed,

And what have I then?Next to nothing for weight,

And since they grew duller

From contact with earth,

Next to nothing for color.Next to nothing for use.

But a crop is a crop,

And who's to say where

The harvest shall stop?

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Although Frost is facing chores that are boring and routine-like, he accepts the fact light-heartedly.
Compared to 'Stopping by the Wood on a Snowy Evening' also by Frost, 'Gathering Leaves' conveys a more positive message.

| Posted on 2009-10-04 | by a guest

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I believe this poem depicts addiction. For example like drugs, when people first use them it is like the greatest thing they have ever felt ,they feel their adrenilene pumping. But after some time the drug starts to lose its exciting feel to it then its no fun. so people keep going back for more. Not even knowing when or where it will end

| Posted on 2009-08-05 | by a guest

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It is possible that this poem represents Frost's musings on his own work. In one instance, if we take the leaves to symbolise his works of poetry, we could read that 'Spades take up leaves / no better than spoons' which symbolise that there is no easy way of approaching his poetry, and his use of fauna in the next verse 'running away' suggests that these leaves, his ideas, are difficult to pin down.
He goes on further to question the fruits of his labor, remarking that when completed 'what have i then?' and proceeds to describe in metaphors their futility. He then remarks , 'a crop is a crop' and 'who's to say when the harvest shall stop' which brings to attention the transient nature of human toil.
The rhyme scheme seems to tie in to this theme, as it is rigidly structured in alternate rhyme, which to me reflects a kind of plodding forwards akin to labor, and from this we can get a sense of the poet's frustration and apathy.

| Posted on 2009-05-13 | by a guest

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Robert Frost was the very embodiment of juxta-positionings, which he used in order to create tension. This poem is a great example of this, with the whimsical rhythm (an example of Frost's 'Sound of Sense' thesis) is greatly contrasted with the far melancholic and sorrowful theme of the poem. The form of the poem is very representative of the themes within it. In the same way in which it seems brief, and in contrast to many of Frost's other pieces, to be lacking in any sort of meat (by which i mean large blocks of text in similarity to that of 'The Black Cottage'- pardon my metaphor vegetarians, for i find a similar pleasure in the use of metaphors as Frost does).

| Posted on 2009-05-09 | by a guest

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Thanks Isabel for enlightening us in the use of plagiarism and copying
As Frost would say,
'psssseud'

| Posted on 2009-05-08 | by a guest

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'i think that the poem is about his life and how he compairs it to leaves'
Thanks for that, moron

| Posted on 2009-05-06 | by a guest

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I think this poem is about when someone does something that they do not enjoy but they do it to fit in with the crowd or because they feel they have to.

| Posted on 2009-05-05 | by a guest

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i think that the poem is about his life and how he compairs it to leaves

| Posted on 2009-04-20 | by a guest

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Isabel Rawlins
An important aspect of this poem are the sound effects that Frost uses. In the first three quarters of the poem there are many long vowel sounds emphasising the long, slow, repetitive and seemingly futile exercise of gathering leaves as can be seen in the opening lines with the words: "spades" "leaves" and "spoons". These long sounds continue as the speaker "load[s] and unload[s] again and again". The last two stanzas show contrast in their sound effects with the use of many short, sharp "t" "c" and "p" sounds as the speaker comes to some kind of realisation that despite the apparent wothlessness of his "crop" with "next to nothing for weight", "next to nothing for colour" and "next to nothing for use" who is he, who is anyone to say "where the harvest shall stop?" the speaker realises that we can find some purpose in even the most repetitive, boring tasks in our lives, such as "gathering leaves".

| Posted on 2008-11-21 | by a guest

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I think this poem is about Frost collecting leaves in autumn and dumping them next to his shed, then after a while they rot.

| Posted on 2008-10-29 | by a guest

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I believe this poem is about love. The leaves represent the women that he sleeps around with and he cannot hug them because he does not love them. While at first the leaves are wrought with exuberance and color, after spending some time on the ground (or in bed with him) they lose their color and excitement. he can keep raking leaves as much as he wants, but then what is he left with? A shed full of leaves that are no longer exciting and which cannot be embraced and still no love...

| Posted on 2008-10-05 | by a guest

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This story is a transparent reminder about the things that are really important in life. It narrates a man obsessed with “leaves”. Which I interpret as superficial possessions and friends. He spends all day collecting them just to end up with next to nothing. “I may load and unload again and again till I fill the whole shed and what have I then” (frost 13-16). In this passage it really shows his futile efforts to obtain something significant. He also talks about when he tries to pick up the leaves and they just fall right through his arms and back to the ground. This could represent when you actually try to depend on them they fall through and you are left high and dry.

| Posted on 2005-11-17 | by Approved Guest