Literary Anilisis Essay: Robert Frost, Aquainted with the Night

Literary Analysis Essay
Emily Konavaluk
Acquainted with the Night -Robert Frost
All poems hide diffrent meanings, and everyone has a diffrent interpritation on what it means and how it relates -or doesnt- relate to them or a spcific situation. In the poem Acquainted with the Night, Robert Frost, an American poet and considered one of the most popular and critically respected American poets of his generation. Expresses his own emotions of grief and depression, that is due to many losses of his parents, siblings, and a spouse, in this gloomy and depressing tone of this poem -like many other of his works. Frost grew up in a environment rich in literature, considering his parents were teachers. At a young age Frost developed a love of nature and the rural countryside, and his regard for his realistic depictions of the rural life. Which even though is not depicted in this particular poem, is demonstrated frequently in his other works such as 'The Road Not Taken'.
This poem has ideals of loneliness, depressions, and suffering by the narrator and main character -whom are the same person-. Aquatinted with the Night is written in Tera Rima, three line stanzas and linked by a rhyme scheme with a near prefect Iambic Pentameter. The speaker is a lonely person, who is wandering around a gloomy city at night, we -as the readers- don't know where they are going, why they are going there or even if the person himself knows where they are going. For most of the poem the narrator is walking, while its raining. The setting could be in New England -where Frost grew up- or in London where he lived for a bit. He walked by a watchman, but he didn't look at him. it seems at though he is embarrassed or doesn't want to explain why he is there. At this point he stops -for the only time in the poem- to listen for a voice that isn't there, its as though he hopes someone is calling for him, but there isn't one. The narrator looks up at the 'luminary clock' which probably is the moon, and he is annoyed or not satisfied with the 'time'. The poem ends when he refers to the beginning of the poem, saying that he is acquainted with the night.
In Acquainted with the Night, Frost uses metaphors, symbolism, personification, and alliteration as literary elements through out the poem. Some examples of metaphors are used frequently in the poem. In the first line the night -and in the rest of the poem- is a metaphor that has a symbolic meaning that could be taken for depression or shame. The shame aspect can be seen in lines 5-6 "I have passed by the watchman on his beat/ and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain" this could mean he is a social outcast or embarrassed by some sort of incident and doesn't want to be recognized in public. The idea of depression can be found in lines 3-4 "I have out walked the furthest city light/ I have looked down the saddest city lane." To me this means somewhere in the past, when his depression or sadness was worse or stronger, and when poets talk about lights it's usually used as a symbol of hope. This line seems to say that he has gone beyond hope in his depression. In line seven the narrator stops walking, and stands still. Waiting for the call that never comes. The Iambic Pentameter of the poem sounds like footsteps, alliteration.
In the third stanza, line eight "Far away an uninterrupted cry" this says to me that the distance "far away" could be more emotional and not physical. As in the person might have been rejected in the past and is now emotionally distant or something. More feelings of loneliness and a feeling of depression come out in line 10-11 "And further still at a unearthly light/ one luminary clock against the sky" this just adds to the other words in the poems that say the speaker is emotionally distant like "Out walked" "passed" "stood still" and "further still" adds to the pattern. there is a definable pattern in this poem that's very symbolic towards depression, a cycle of depression the repetition of rhyme keeps coming back to the beginning. just like how someone suffers depression, in a loop of emotion. in the last line "I have ben one acquainted with the night" repeats itself to the beginning of the poem, in a refrain. Just like the pattern of depression.
Although there are several main themes in this poem, the main one I think would be isolation. This man is alone, in the midst of a city, in the pouring rain and dark. Wandering around, thinking someone is calling for him who really isn't. He avoids the watchman who is the only other person in the poem, and finally even though he says he is 'acquainted with the night' it seems at though he has no friends in this world at all. This relates to the Literary elements because when Frost uses metaphors, symbolism, personification, and alliteration to highlight things like depression, loneliness, suffering, and sadness. That are all linked to isolation, the theme of this poem.
This poem doesn't say much for the American dream, that took over so much of Frosts generation. It's actually the complete opposite. The man is sad, alone, depressed, wandering around the city streets in the night while its raining. Not the white picket fence in the suburbs with the close knit family, a housewife and a steady job. Maybe this person once had all of those things, the perfect American dream. Or maybe that is what he wishes his life to be, seeing everyone else living it and craving it for himself. This poem shows people what isolation and depression can do to the American dream.
But in the end, all we know for certain is that they are "acquainted with the night."