Blueberries by Robert Frost

"You ought to have seen what I saw on my way

To the village, through Patterson 's pasture to-day:

Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb.

Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum

in the cavernous pail of the first one to come!

And all ripe together, not some of them green

And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!"

"I don't know what part of the pasture you mean."

"You know where they cut off the woods--let me see --

it was two years ago--or no--can it be

No longer than that?--and the following fall

The fire ran and burned it all up but the wall."

"Why, there hasn't been time for the bushes to grow.

That's always the way with the blueberries, though:

There may not have been the ghost of a sign

Of them anywhere under the shade of the pine,

But get the pine out of the way, you may burn

The pasture all over until not a fern

Or grass-blade is left, not to mention a stick,

and presto, they're up all around you as thick

and hard to explain as a conjuror's trick."

"It must be on charcoal they fatten their fruit.

I taste in them sometimes the flavour of soot.

And after all really they're ebony skinned:

The blue's but a mist from the breath of the wind,

A tarnish that goes at a touch of the hand,

And less than the tan with which pickers are tanned."

A) The speaker mentions the “‘cavernous pail of the first one to come’” (line 5).; however, this mention of the pail is referring to the pail into which the lucky picker who first stumbles across this crop will put the “‘Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb’” (line 3). The speaker does not express surprise that pickers are bringing large pails. 

B) “‘the first one to come’” refers to a blueberry picker; however, although the speaker is predicting success for anyone who comes to pick the blueberries, the speaker is not expressing surprise that there are no pickers. Based on speaker’s description of how big, blue, and ripe the berries are (“‘as big as the end of your thumb, / Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready’” (3-4), the berries are undisturbed, and no one has discovered them except for the speaker. 

C Correct: The speaker describes “‘big as the end of your thumb’” (line 3) blueberries that are “‘Real sky-blue, and heavy,’” (line 4) and “‘all ripe together’” (line 6). The speaker repeats, “‘You ought to have seen’” in lines 1 and 7 to convey surprise. 

D This option might seem plausible because the size of the blueberries and bushes are described. The first speaker draws attention to size (“‘big as the end of your thumb’”)(line 3). In line 13, the second speaker exclaims, “‘Why, there hasn’t been time for the bushes to grow.’” This implies that the bushes must be small, so it is surprising that the blueberries they produce are numerous and “‘as big as the end of your thumb.’” Although lines 1–7 address the blueberries, speaker does not mention the bushes.

A Correct: Line 3 contains the simile “‘Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,’” comparing the size of the blueberries to the size of a thumb.

B This option may seem plausible to some readers because the speaker states in line 5 that the blueberries are ready to fall “‘In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!’” However, the speaker uses “‘cavernous’” to describe the size and emptiness of the pail, not to compare a blueberry to a view of a cave.

C Although line 4 mentions that the blueberries are “‘ready to drum,’” no context supports the comparison of blueberries to the sound of a pail; rather, the speaker is implying that the blueberries will make the sound after they are picked and dropped in the “‘cavernous pail’” (line 5).

D Some readers might choose this option because “‘the village’” is mentioned in line 2 as the speaker’s destination, and it is near the location of the blueberries. In addition, in line 4 the speaker describes the blueberries as “‘Real sky-blue.’” However, the speaker does not compare the blueberries to images of a village.

A Some readers may conclude that the words “‘or no!—can it be’” at the end of line 10 are a general contradiction of the description of the blueberries in lines 3–7. However, the words contradict only the beginning of the speaker’s initial statement in line 10, that “‘It was two years ago.’” The words do not contradict any specific description in lines 3–7. 

B The words in line 14 hint at disagreement, particularly with the use of the word “‘though’”. Any disagreement that might exist, however, would be with the speaker’s own obvious sense of surprise in line 13, “‘Why, there hasn’t been time for the bushes to grow,’” rather than with the descriptions that are given in lines 3–7. In fact, the phrase in line 14, “‘That’s always the way’” implies agreement with the descriptions rather than contradiction. 

C Because there is no mention of taste of blueberries in lines 3–7, some readers may conclude that line 23 contradicts the earlier description because it describes the berries in a new way. Some readers may notice a positive tone in lines 3–7 and conclude that the “‘flavour of soot’” (23) is a contradiction; this is not a contradiction, however, because rather than revising what had been said earlier,it adds description. 

D Correct: Line 4 states that the blueberries are “‘Real sky-blue,’” but line 24 describes the berries as “‘ebony skinned.’” Line 24 begins with words that provide a clue to the speaker’s change of mind: “‘And after all really . . . .’”

A This option might seem plausible because the speaker mentions an experience that occurred “‘on my way / To the village, through Patterson’s pasture to-day’” (lines 1 and 2). However, although the pasture and the village are mentioned as landmarks and are part of the setting, the speaker does not present a comparison of the two in the poem. 

B Correct: The irregular length of the stanzas, use of quotation marks, and use of first-person pronouns all convey the sense of two people chatting, as does the informal, conversational language; for example, the first speaker begins with “‘You ought to have seen what I saw’” (line 1), and the second speaker responds in line 8 with “‘I don’t know what part of the pasture you mean.’” 

C Some readers who focus on lines 4 and 5 of the poem, which describe blueberries as “‘ready to drum / In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!’” might reason that the poem offers a tutorial for would-be blueberry pickers. However, the speaker does not offer any instruction in the steps in blueberry picking. 

D This choice might be attractive to some readers because line 12 of the poem refers to a fire that “‘ran and burned it all up but the wall,’” and lines 17–19 describe how a fire can “‘burn / The pasture all over until not a fern / Or grass-blade is left, not to mention a stick.’” However, the mentions of fire serve simply as descriptive supporting details rather than an organizational pattern.

A Some readers might find this option plausible because line 21 states that the appearance of the blueberries is as “‘hard to explain as a conjuror’s trick.’” However, line 21 is making a comparison between two phenomena that are difficult to explain; lines 13–21 do not attempt to explain the conjuror’s trick. 

B This option might seem plausible because the first speaker describes the blueberries as ‘‘Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum / In the cavernous pail of the first one to come’” (lines 4 and 5). However, although the focus of lines 13–21 is the newly-discovered blueberry bushes, and although the blueberries are “‘all around . . . thick / And hard to explain’” (lines 20 and 21), the speaker does not address the difficulties of picking the pervasive berries. 

C Some readers might be attracted to this option because lines 17–19 describe the complete devastation that a fire can cause: “‘you may burn / The pasture all over until not a fern / Or grass-blade is left.’” However, the speaker is providing details of how the fire got “‘the pine out of the way’” (line 17) of the blueberries rather than explaining the destruction of the fire itself. 

D Correct: Lines 13–21 open with the speaker expressing surprise that blueberries have appeared so quickly when, initially, there was no sign of them. As the speaker puts it in line 13, “‘Why, there hasn’t been time.’”

A Correct: In lines 4–5, the speaker is anticipating picking and eating berries that are “‘ready to drum / In the cavernous pail’” of the first person who picks them. The speaker’s glowing praise of the size of the berries “‘as big as the end of your thumb’” (line 3), their “‘Real sky-blue’” color (line 4), and their “‘heavy’” weight (line 4), as well as the fact they are “‘all ripe together’” (line 6), further reinforces a tone of anticipation of picking and eating the luscious fruit. 

B The speaker might seem to some readers to be demanding that someone “‘get the pine out of the way’” (17); they may conclude the speaker is anticipating what will happen when the pine trees are removed. However, in lines 14–21, rather than anticipating something that will occur, speaker is explaining something that has already happened: Blueberries sprang up quickly in a field after pine trees that shaded the area were destroyed or gotten “‘out of the way’” (line 17) by a fire. 

C Some readers may conclude that the speaker of line 20 is anticipating that more blueberries will suddenly appear. However, that line’s claim of how quickly the bushes spring “‘up all around you’” is part of the speaker’s explanation in lines 14–21 of how blueberries can seem to appear with supernatural speed once they have the proper growing conditions. 

D Some readers may conclude that the speaker of line 26 is anticipating eating a blueberry as soon as the blue “‘tarnish’” is removed by the “‘touch of the hand.’” However, the speaker is explaining that the blue color of blueberries appears only as a “‘mist’” (line 25) on their surface that can be easily removed to reveal that the berries are actually “‘ebony skinned’” (line 24).