Robert Frost's 'Acquainted With The Night'

The poems are based on emotions for example in “We grow accustomed to the dark” and in line “when light is put away” what I think the author means by this is that she does not see the light in much things anymore and she has gotten so used to her depressing emotion that she's used to this. In the “Acquainted with the night” also shows us that the author is sort of in a depressed state of mind and sees it as a companion and from the author's frequent use of “I” in every line we can see that he is alone. While in “Acquainted with the night” we read that there are people in the poem but they do not honestly mean much since the people do not actually interact with the author and in “We grow accustomed to the dark” they mention a neighbor but he

Robert Frost 's “Acquainted with the Night” is about a man who frequently journeys out at night and roams about the city alone. He is familiar with the atmosphere around him and it’s apparent he has wandered far beyond the city. Throughout the poem the speaker does not communicate with anyone and a sense of silence and suspense pervade his walks. It is understood that the speaker is very lonely on his walks and often finds himself hoping someone would call out to him. As the speaker strolls through the dark city streets midst the night, it’s evident that he is deeply troubled and dismal as the poem develops a gloomy, dejected tone.

In the second stanza, he says “Darkness settles on roofs and walls”. Then, he expresses the idea of nature washing away the mark of man in lines 8-9 when the speaker of the poem states “The little waves, with their soft, white hands, Efface the footprints in the sands”. Then, the first line of the third stanza opens with “The morning breaks”. In this section, darkness fell upon the speaker, and he watched as the waves washed away the footprints of the traveler in the sand. Then morning breaks, which implies that life will continue after the death of a person. Another example of imagery in this poem is when he says “The twilight darkens, the curlew calls”. This does nothing more than to give the reader an even more exact image of what is going on, which allows the reader to be able to connect better with the

The visual’s background is formed by a dark and starry night sky; stretching across the image and transitioning into a sunny day sky. This is a representation of the passage of time, life, death, and the power of memories. The nighttime depicts ageing and adulthood, whereas the daytime represents youth and life. In the poem, the narrator describes the sky, ‘Ambiguous night, ambiguous sky,’ which is symbolic for the transience between adulthood and childhood. An ambiguous sky is a sky which is unclear or undecided. The faded transition from the night sky to the day sky reflects this notion and the uncertainty of memories; displaying how the poem

Each part was broken up after a noticeable shift and atmospheric changes in the poem. The first part of the poem is during “Sad is the man...with one”(Ln 1-2), and repeats again at “In a room...on his father”(Ln 6-9). These lines create a shift into a narrative stage. It puts a pause on the poem to introduce or explain the scene in the poem. The narrative is important because it shows the point of view of the poem. The second shift is created with “Already the man...should never disappoint”(Ln 10-18). This shift is when the father is thinking about his fears and desires, to be more blunt, the father’s fantasies. It creates an unrealistic tone to the poem an shows the father’s dismay when he cannot remember a story for his son. The last shift begins with “His five-year-old...scratches his ear”(Ln 3-5), and ends with “But the boy...up to silence”(Ln 19-23). This shift bring the poem into reality. In fact the poem states that the “emotional rather than logical equation”(Ln 20) is where most people get confused and frustrated at the world. The poem also states the conflict of fantasy and reality. This conflict is what creates the the multiple shifts and the complicated relationship between the father and the

Strong bonds built upon trust and dependability can last a lifetime, especially through strenuous moments when the integrity of a bond is the only thing that can be counted on to get through those situations. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, he writes about his life spent in the concentration camps, while explaining the experiences and struggles that he went through. Although, not everything during that period was completely unbearable for Wiesel. At the time when Wiesel first arrived at the camps, the fear instilled in Wiesel and the loneliness he would have felt forced him to form a stronger attachment to his father. That dependence towards his father gave Wiesel a reason to keep on living. In turn, his

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 Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken” we can see how many different aspects of life decision making comes in the form of symbolisms. “Two roads diverge in a yellow wood. And sorry I couldn’t not travel both” This showing use how unwilling the character is of not making a right decision, this is centered on how life can come with certain choices one must make but is very unclear on how to. People always want to have everything at once but it is to show that it is impossible to have it all at the same time. The contrast completely with William Stafford “Traveling Through the Dark” where even if a

The poem as a whole appear to be a metaphor for, or symbolic of the depression and loneliness felt by the speaker . In the very first line “I have been one acquainted with the night” (I. 1), tells that the speaker knows of the ‘night’ (a metaphor for loneliness and depression). The speaker also personifies the night by being ‘acquainted’ with it. In the second line, the usage of the word ‘rain’ is a metaphor for life’s problems, which the speaker seems to be immersed with . In the third and fourth lines, the speaker uses hyperbole when he says “I have outwalked the furthest city light/ I have looked down the saddest city lane” (I. 3; II. 1), a feat not humanly possible, because the farthest city light would suggest the end of the city, and the word ‘saddest’ is a relative emotion. The words “city light” is also symbolic of a community and friends, which the speaker is trying to

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

Moreover, the speaker uses words that describe distance such as “far”(11) and “further”(3) that in this poem, perhaps referring to his relationships to the society. Even the first impression of the poem, the comical tone, now signifies the lightness meaninglessness of these connections without sincerity. This contrast between the two tones indicates how the speaker feels as if he is separated both physically and mentally from his surroundings like the society, his friends or even his family.

Furthermore, this analogy of light and darkness serves as a comparison to the natural transition of the day. First, the sun rises and later the sun sets to allow the moon illuminates the night. In doing so, the poem acquires a transcendentalist aspect not explicitly stated. There is a nature reference embedded into the poetry whereas mental disorder is influenced by. A rationale behind it could be that “accustomed to the Dark” translates into I enjoy being in my room where light does not bother me. It is the speaker’s habituation to stay home and not to socialize outside the boundary of it. Thus, it is a story of confinement reproduced into poetry.

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.

The poem is centered around the loneliness of the narrator and about how he is unable to convey his thoughts and feelings. The poem begins and finishes with the most important line: “I have been one acquainted with the night” (Frost). Darkness, evil, and loneliness are all connotations of night, so when the narrator states he has been acquainted with the night, he means that all those connotations are extremely familiar to him.

“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.