leaves have a purpose that they must work constantly to fulfill, much as people do at their jobs. The imagery goes beyond anthropomorphism in this poem, however, as it suggests the endless cycle of reincarnation. Frost specifies that these are "the same leaves over and over again" (line 1) and that before they can mount again, "They must go down past things coming up. They must go down into the dark decayed...pierced by flowers...[and] put beneath the feet of dancing flowers" (lines 7-10). Thus, Frost gives the leaves a sense of destiny, a place in the eternal cycle of life and death. Although he states that "it is in some other world" (line 11), the imagery strongly suggests toiling to mount up, go down under the earth to be decayed, and then go up again, and these are all part of the natural cycle of life, death, and resurrection or reincarnation.
...