Acquainted With the Night, by Robert Frost

Acquainted with the Night, by Robert Frost (1874-1963)

The poem Acquainted with the Night was written by Robert Frost and first printed in a collection called West Running Brook published in 1928. Robert Frost's poetry painted a classic picture of life in America. We get glimpses of every day scenes featuring every day people. We also get a picture of the very troubled and depressed Frost himself. When reading Frost's poetry, it is important to consider the source of the melancholy tone and obsession with ghosts, death, loneliness and sorrow. Robert Frost had many losses in his personal life, business, and loved ones. He moved many times. It is a little known fact that Frost suffered from Tuberculosis. This disease was in epidemic proportions at the time. Tuberculosis not only effects your ability to breath, lowers your immune system, and steals your energy, it also causes sleeplessness, nervousness, and a deep sense of melancholy. [Lawrence, 1970]. This is reflected in much of Frost's Poetry. There are two possibilities that surface when I read Acquainted with the Night. The first is insomnia and depression caused by Tuberculosis, a silent suffering that only he could know. The second is a description of the plight of a homelessness man at night. I believe that the character being homeless in the poem is better supported than that of insomnia.

Acquainted with the Night has a great sense of loneliness and sorrow. In the rhythm of the verses, it is easy to hear the steady rhythmic footsteps of the character on the pavement as he walks. The repetitive steady rhythm of the verse adds to the feeling of monotonous, never ending sorrow with no hope. It seems as if the footsteps could go on forever and never reach their destination.

The first hint of isolation is in the first verse. The speaker is currently in the city where it is raining. Most of Frost's poetry is set in rural New England. The city is not a place where he is most comfortable and lends a sense of alienation to the poem [Lentricchia, 1975]. This is evident in the phrase; "I walked down the saddest city lane." Another reference to loneliness is the confrontation with the night watchman. The speaker associates himself with the night watchman, who usually works alone at night. The speaker's loneliness is further conveyed by the phrase, "an interrupted cry" that neither calls him back nor says goodbye. There is no one here who knows him. The call was for someone else. His only company is the continuous, never-ending march of time the "Luminary clock," which could be referring to the moon.

To this point the analysis given could be insomnia or loneliness caused by anything. All they indicate is a deep sense of loneliness. His use of opposites, first this…then the other, gives us a sense that he has done this walking many nights before. In line two "out in rain -- and back in rain" gives s sense that this isolation is and endless dream repeated over and over. Another use of this technique is in the line, "But not to call me back or say goodbye." It appears again when he proclaimed that time "was neither wrong nor right." The feeling of endlessness is emphasized by the repetition of the first line in the last. The poem, like the isolation has no end. There is no destination, it just keeps revolving.

The confrontation with the night watchman is one of the best pieces of evidence supporting the idea that the speaker is homeless. He avoids eye contact so that he does not have to explain his predicament. A lot can be read into this. He may not want to explain because he just does not feel like talking about his situation, because of the deep hurt that he feels. It may also support the idea of homelessness, as he does not wish to talk to the officer due to his fear that he will be arrested or at least harassed because he has nowhere to go.

The greatest support that the speaker is homeless and not just an insomniac, comes from the many elements that Frost has woven together to create a sense of never ending repetition. An insomniac can see the time when they fall asleep, or the sun rises on a new day. The suffering of the homeless is more prolonged and does not go on for just one night. Eventually an insomniac will sleep, the suffering can seem endless at the time, but cannot go on for days, as the body will simply collapse at some point. For the homeless, the suffering can go on for a very long time. The endless walking can last for years with nothing in sight to end the cycle. By day they walk the streets and by night they walk the streets. It is all the same. An insomniac has a destination and someone waiting for them in the end. The speaker indicates that he has no one when he hears the cry and knows it could not be for him and must be for someone else. No one will miss him or call him home. His comment about the clock or moon indicates that time has no meaning. He does not have a schedule or anywhere to go. An insomniac wants the insomnia to end so that he can go home and fall asleep in his own bed.