Isolation in “Acquainted with the Night”, by Robert Frost Robert Frost was indeed one of the most important and influential writers in the history of American Literature. His unique style and incredible use of imageries give his readers a deep understanding of his works. In his poem, “Acquainted with the Night”, by using a smooth and static rhythm, bleak and dreary imageries, unique diction, and well-thought syntax of sentences, Frost conveys a feeling of lonesome and isolation. The poem’s beat is very calm and is in perfect iambic pentameter, which creates a nice and easy flow throughout the poem, giving the reader a sense of solitude. The rhyming scheme of the poem is in a form called a terza rhima, a rhyming effect usually …show more content…
Later on in the poem, he leads the readers to imagine not only an image, but also a sound, “When far away an interrupted cry.” This sound further emphasizes the situation he is in, when the author states, “But not to call me back or say good-by,” which indicated that the sound was not meant for him (8,10). Through this sound imagery, the reader can infer the feeling of disappointment and rejection the author feels as he strode down the strange city. What adds to Frost’s style of vivid imagery even more is his diction. He chooses words that are strong enough create a lively picture, but yet still soft to fit the mellow flow of the poem. In line twelve, his use of the word “luminary” strikes the reader’s mind with its sound (onomatopoeia), which brings the picture of the moon in front of the reader. Using line eleven, he states his feeling of desperation and hopelessness, in which he describes the moon as “at an unearthly height”, meaning that hope is unreachable, and loneliness is unavoidable. While seeing the moon, the only light and hope of the city, the author conveys his mixed feelings of right or wrong. Frost uses the method of repetition to further cross his point presented to the reader. First, by using “I have” as the beginning of each sentence for lines one through five, seven and fourteen, he strikes the point of his own acquaintance, conveying a more personal feeling, allowing
Frost used several different words in the poem as metaphors because they were used to describe something else. For example rain, was used for the meaning of sadness or sorrow. Night, was used for describing depression or loneliness. Luminary clock, represented the light of the moon. The watchmen, I believe meant for judgment within himself. Light, represented hope. Putting meaning to the metaphors that Frost used helps you to really get a better understanding of the poem.
Frost further points out that the stretch of woods being viewed is very rural. This is made possible by the reference to the location between the woods and frozen lake. In closing the final sentence of the second stanza Frost reiterates the fact that this occurs on “the darkest evening of the year” stating the darkness of the mood.
Frost?s poem delves deeper into the being and essence of life with his second set of lines. The first line states, ?Her early leaf?s a flower.? After the budding and sprouting, which is the birth of nature, is growth into a flower. This is the moment where noon turns to evening, where childhood turns into maturity, and where spring turns into summer. At this very moment is the ripe and prime age of things. The young flower stands straight up and basks in the sun, the now mature teenager runs playfully in the light, and the day and sunlight peak before descending ever so quickly into dusk. The second line of the second set states, ?But only so an hour,? which makes clear that yet again time is passing by and that a beginning will inevitably have an end.
Not only are metaphors utilized throughout the poem, but a literary device known as Imagery is as well. Imagery is alternative as important a device for it allows for the reader to have a clear picture of what the character in the poem is visualizing. Furthermore, it also helps covey the theme the author is aiming to represent to the reader. Imagery is made known in stanza two line three, which states, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Myer, 1091). Here the author is using imagery to inform the readers the traveler is coming up with a reason for why one path could be more favorable over the other. The reader analyzes this line of imagery to obtain a clearer representation of the traveler’s decision-making process. Another line where the author uses imagery is in stanza two line five, which states, “Had worn them really about the same” (Myer, 1091). Here the author is using imagery to inform the reader that the paths are “worn” down, which informs the reader that both of his choices have been equally chosen by people before him. These examples help the reader begin to form the theme of self-justification in decision-making. After analyzing the metaphors and the imagery Frost uses in this poem, the reader can conclude so far that the theme the poet is conveying
The poetic techniques were symbolism, imagery, and tone. Symbolism is the most powerfully used technique due to the fact a good number of lines located in this poem is used to signify a certain object or idea related to our life or today’s world. Imagery in the sense that you can visualize the path, the yellow wood, the undergrowth, the divergence; it is all made very vivid. Frost did this throughout; you know trying to stimulate the reader’s mood using one’s senses. In this poem, imagery permits the reader to imagine the scene that this poem takes place in resulting in an enhanced understanding of the theme. The tone Frost’s work presents is an insecure attitude which allows the theme to be brought out due to the fact the theme relates to a dilemma in one’s life. These techniques strongly aid in the revealing of this specific theme.
The two poems “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Acquainted with the Night” written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a really mysterious tone. There are different metaphors used in each poem to symbolize death; “Sleep” in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Night” in “Acquainted with the Night.” The characters in the two poem are both in a journey and has come
In Emily Dickenson's "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark," and in Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night," the poets use imagery of darkness. The two poems share much in common in terms of structure, theme, imagery, and motif. Both poems are five stanzas long: brief and poignant. The central concepts of being "accustomed" to something, and being "acquainted" with something convey a sense of familiarity. However, there are core differences in the ways Dickenson and Frost craft their poems. Although both Dickenson and Frost write about darkness, they do so with different points of view, imagery, and structure.
Right at the beginning of the poem, Frost’s unnamed speaker declares that they “have been one acquainted with the night” (Frost 1). The word acquainted implies a relationship that, while not unfriendly, lacks the close emotional connection often seen in friendship while the night itself, despite often being characterized as a symbol of death and darkness, can also be seen as a time of quiet, meditation, and peace free from the chaos of city life. Therefore, when the speaker says they “have been one acquainted
There are several likenesses and differences in these poems. They each have their own meaning; each represent a separate thing and each tell a different story. However, they are all indicative of Frost’s love of the outdoors, his true enjoyment of nature and his wistfulness at growing old. He seems to look back at youth with a sad longing.
The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.
is saying, and Frosts personal pain that he is suffering from that he ingrains into this poem. The
Robert Frost’s poetic techniques serve as his own “momentary stay against confusion,” or as a buffer against mortality and meaninglessness in several different ways; in the next few examples, I intend to prove this. Firstly, however, a little information about Robert Frost and his works must be provided in order to understand some references and information given.
“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost dramatizes the conflict that the speaker experiences with the outside world, which has rejected him, or perhaps which he has rejected. The poem is composed of fourteen lines and seven sentences, all of which begin with “I have.” Frost’s first and last line, “I have been one acquainted with the night,” emphasizes what it means for the speaker to be “acquainted with the night” (line 1; 14). The speaker describes his walk in the night as journey, in which he has “walked out of rain—and back in rain” and “outwalked the furthest city light” (line 2-3). Through the depiction of the changing weather conditions, Frost signifies the passage of time, perhaps indicating that the narrator has been on his journey for a lengthy period of time and has traveled through many cities. Furthermore, the imagery of the rain at night creates a forlorn atmosphere in the poem.
Robert Frost’s poem “Desert Places” diminishes an overall sense of emptiness to being nothing compared to what he holds within himself through the use of connotative diction. Throughout the poem, the description of a cold, dark night is meant to represent the intensity of the depression that Frost was feeling. In the final stanza, Frost reveals that “I have it in me so much nearer home, To scare myself with my own desert places”, “it” being the darkness previously mentioned in the poem. The “desert places” introduced in the final line are a representation of the dark emotions Frost was experiencing, and
“The problem of alienation is a pervasive theme in the classics of sociology, and the concept has a prominent place in contemporary work”(Seeman). Alienation is one of the biggest problems in the modern world today. From being alienated at work to your skin color, almost everyone has been alienated in some way or form. In many poems by the 20th century poet, Robert Frost, he focuses on different forces of alienation throughout the New England area. Robert, born in 1874, was raised in New England, stirring the fire for his poem. Many call him one of the best poets in American history. The majority of his poems start as simple word pictures, then move toward vivid and complex ideas. In the poems, Mending wall, Out Out, and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Frost expresses many types of alienation.