Critical Appreciation - Acquainted with The Night - Robert Frost - Asad Imran Notes

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Background Information

Acquainted With the Night is one of the "most celebrated" poems of Robert Frost. This poem appeared at Virginia Quarterly Review in 1927. Later, Frost added this sonnet into his next collection of poetry known as West Running Brook in 1928. It is a time of technological innovation. TV sets, radios and telephones were being installed while the American nation had experienced the recent bloodshed and destruction of humanity. Many literary artists were showcasing a parallel between fear and prosperity. Frost added Acquainted with the Night as a contribution to such literary exhibitions. Acquainted with the Night is a sonnet that highlights the deplorable condition of a citizen who is strolling in an empty street during rain at night,

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have out walked the furthest city light.

Situation

Acquainted with the Night begins on a passerby who is walking on the street late at night. He has walked in rain and walk out of the rain. He has eyed the saddest city lane. He passes through a watchman, silently because he is unwilling to explain the state of his heart to the guard. Suddenly, he hears a cry above the houses, in another street. This cry is not meant to call him back or to say good-bye. Lastly, he looks at the luminary clock, indicating that the time was neither wrong, nor right.

Critical Analysis of Acquainted with the Night

Development of Themes

Acquainted with the Night begins on the theme of isolation and ends on the theme of despair. As the poet steps into the street, he finds himself lonely. He does not want to give an explanation of his desperate state of heart to the watchman. As soon as he advances in the street in the night, he finds himself in the clutches of the darkness as the night has a close resemblness to darkness. Melancholy in his heart has grown into despair as he sees the glittering clock and finds time is neither good nor bad. But his saddest condition cannot make him find comfort anywhere. His assertion of "I have been ONE" gives the impression that he is not alone in facing a dismal situation.

Figurative Language

Figurative language of this sonnet is, like many other poems of Robert Frost, multi-layered. The symbol of luminary clock hints at the time while night refers to darkness. The symbol of rain signifies sorrowless of the poet. There are vivid traces of extended metaphor in this poem especially when the poet uses the symbol of the night to compare his loneliness and anxiety. Frost's balanced and skilful use of literary devices has made this poem enjoyable for the readers.

Setting and Imagery

As the title suggests, this poem takes place on a lonely street at night during the rain. The poet makes a brilliant use of visual imagery like "walked out-of-rain", "walked in rain", "luminary clock" as well as auditory imagery like "an interrupted cry" to create an imaginary perspective in the mind of a reader.

Structural Analysis

This poem is a beautiful mix of consonance, alliteration and enjambment. For instance, the repetition of the /s/ and /d/ in this monostich, "I have walked out in rain—and back in rain". For alliteration, we may quote the repetition of /s/ in this line, "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet." in a tongue-twisting manner. Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence without periods in stanzas or couplets. For example, this couplet is a fine example of enjambment,

I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

This is a fourteen-lined poem which, coupled with personal melancholy, makes it a perfect sonnet. There are four three-lined stanzas formally known as Dantic Terza Rima and a Shakespearean concluding couplet. The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is ABA CDC DAD AA. While iambic pentameter is the rhythmic pattern of this poem. "I have been one acquainted with the night" is a refrain.

Conclusion

To conclude, Untermeyer terms it "a record of personal melancholy" while Jarrell praises this sonnet as Dantesque and classical in its epigrammatic terseness. In simple words, this sonnet is an understandable mixture of classism and historical loneliness painted as a personal lyric.

Critical Appreciation - Acquainted with The Night - Robert Frost