Analysis of the poem Acquainted with the Night - Essay Example

Order 331309 Topic: Analysis of the poem "Acquainted with the Night" Introduction: When one agrees that poetry is the ‘spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’, it is futile to expect that a poet assembles the poem. They say the poet sees what the Sun can not see. Words, sentences and ideas arrive out of the flights of poet’s imagination. He flies freely like a bird; halts unexpectedly and flies again at will! Nobody needs to give a command or press the push button for his flights in the vast sky of literature.

Poetry arrives through flashes of his intuition. “Acquainted with the Night” is one such poem through which Frost analyses profound meaning of human life, as studied and experienced by him.Content (theme) The setting of the poem is in the urban area; obviously it is crowed since it houses a big population, generally more than what the city infrastructure can accommodate; He writes, “I have looked down the saddest city lane.” He is familiar with the geography of the city; the second theme is loneliness; the third theme is the speaker’s sadness.

The surroundings and situations make the poet sad. It is to be noted that the poem was written in 1928, when the world economy (especially that of U.S.) was at the threshold the Great Depression (which commenced in 1930) But the year 1928 relates to plenty and prosperity. Why then the poet should be sad? The poets have generally nothing to get elated about the materialistic prosperity. Their domain is spirituality, where such attachments have no relevance. “Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right- I have been one acquainted with the night.

” -the poet has perfectly mastered the nature of the dualities of life, and came to the conclusion that everything happens in life, as it should! Time is a great healer, and one can never complain about Time-the nature of its functioning! It is always perfect; it is benevolent, provided an individual has the patience to understand. The wise saying goes, ‘Go placidly amidst the noise and din….everything is happening as it should!’Form (structures) The poet uses paradox like, “the time was neither wrong nor right.

” He uses a common syntax of word order in most of the lines in his poem. This poem is a sonnet. The overall tone of the poem is sad and apathetic. “Acquainted with the Night,” means he has come to terms with the night. He is able to cope up with the night; he has mastered the art of living. The sapling of silence is steadily growing in his heart. The image of the moon as a clock and timekeeper is perfect because, the moon is one of the perfect agents of nature, unfailing as for the time.

The moon is associated with love and calmness. The poet’s loneliness is not the symbol of melancholy; it is the level achieved by the one who is ultimately victorious, having experienced the vicissitudes of life. He understands the transient nature of the world of objects. Frost uses symbolism and rhythm skims to convey through the speaker about his feelings. The interpretation of his loneliness depends on the level of one’s understanding the challenges of life. The symbolic ideas can be interpreted in either way.

There is lots of difference to the weak surrender and the dynamic surrender of an individual. A glass filled with water to 50% of its capacity can either be termed as half-empty or ‘half-full’ depending upon one’s perception. The first assertion is right; the second one is not wrong. According to me, Frost is a great optimist and is not the one who is afraid of the dualities of life. The pattern of the poem looks like the symbolic representation of the cycle of poet’s moods. The repetition of the initial rhyme takes the reader back to the beginning.

The structure of the poem: It is written in a terza rima sonnet, using four tercets of an interlocking three-line rhyme scheme. One finds the traditional iambic pentameter of a sonnet along with internal rhymesFigurative (symbolic) Frost makes generous use of symbols like night, for darkness, sad; rain for sadness, bad times and depression; light for goodness and hope etc. Look at these lines, “I have out walked the furthest city light-I have looked down the saddest city lane.” The poet avers to say that he has successfully met the challenges of life and he recollects the past, in the lines “I have been one acquainted with the night-I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.

” “Out walked” the limits of the city could also mean that he had done something wrong and committed certain mistakes and gone beyond the limitations set by God to the human beings. Who is this watchman? Does Frost refers to the soul which is the witness for the right and wrong actions being committed by an individual and yet does not get affected in anyway? Frost says, he is “unwilling to explain.” In the path of his life, the poet must have stumbled somewhere, some thorns must have pricked him, and he does not wish to speak and discuss about them.

Conclusion: Frost emphasizes his loneliness and has adopted the neutral stand in life. Loneliness is a great asset for the poet. Brilliant ideas originate in the precious depths of his solitude. He finds the precious pearls of his literary blessings in the ocean-like mind. He is neither happy nor sad. He creates great poems by taking up ordinary subject matters. Deep emotion and symbolism are strong points of Frosts’ poetry. The poet seems to have adjusted his lifestyles to the noises of urban settings and found his peace.

He is ever calm from within and the worst situation does not upset him. Having found the rhythm of life, and taken control of the internal calmness, happiness and sorrow are alternative beats of the same heart to him. ************* Works Cited:Acquainted With The Night Analysis Robert Frost: Retrieved on October 29, 2009