Read the poem.
Gathering Leaves
by Robert Frost
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?
In “Gathering Leaves,” Frost describes the unending task of gathering fall leaves and ending up with bags of leaves that serve no purpose.
Which lines from the poem best convey this thought?
“Spades take up leaves / No better than spoons, / And bags full of leaves”
“Again and again / Till I fill the whole shed, / And what have I then?”
“An since they grew duller / From contact with earth, / Next to nothing for color.”
“But the mountains I raise / Elude my embrace, / Flowing over my arms”