The play on words is very popular in poetry. Robert Frost uses word play in a way that causes the reader to think deeper and not just believe what’s on the surface. Like Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night” which is a poem spoken by a man who, at first glance, knows the night well because he is always awake and walking the city streets during it. He speaks about how he has walked in rain and past the furthest city light. The speaker talks about how he dodges the watchman by dropping his eyes and keeping head down. At first glance, one would conclude the poem is about a man literally walking at night for so many nights. He, however, is saying so much more through symbolism in addition to imagery and metaphors. When looking at Frost’s
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The last line in the first stanza, “I have outwalked the furthest city light”, allows the reader to envision the speaker being far away from where people live, as physical distance used as a metaphor for the speaker’s loneliness or hopelessness as he walked too far and became too detached from civilization to go back. Even the “far away” cry shows the speaker’s distance and detachement. The imagery used in the second line of the first stanza, “I have walked out in rain-and back in rain”, gives the reader the vision of being out on a rainy night which equals dreariness when most people stay in curl up on the couch with family. This vision sets the stage for depression. The fact there is no other people out walking around aside from the watchman sets the stage for loneliness. Though Frost’s poem is about night, knowing the meaning of night also makes the poem about day; or the nonexistence of it. Light can be seen however, by the moon expressed as, “one luminary clock against the sky”, possibly giving the speaker an ounce of hope that his loneliness and depression will end soon though it is still at a great distance or “unearthly height” while proclaiming “the time is neither wrong nor right”, leaving the speaker without knowledge or idea to the loneliness and depressions …show more content…
Frost uses a rhythme scheme in the five stanza’s that go ABA in the first stanza, BCB in the second, CDC in the third, and the last two lines in DD. This rhythme scheme is an important feature to the poem as it moves forward while envisioning the past. The word “have” being repeated throughout the poem is a great example as the speaker talks in a present tense tone using past tense words. Another important feature of Frost’s poem is the iambic pentameter of ten syllables for each line. Pairing stressed syllables after unstressed syllables for a steady rhythm similar to a heartbeat or footsteps. The form of “Acquainted with the Night” is important as it connects with the words in the poem. The walking forward while remembering where he has walked and the steady rhythm like the footsteps the speaker takes as he walks. Repetition also plays a major role in “Acquainted with the Night”. The repetition in the second line of the first stanza, “I have walked out in rain-and back in rain”, could have been written, I have walked out and back in rain but Frost chose to repeat the word rain to capture the readers understanding of the speaker’s depression. The repetition of “Acquainted with the Night” is used as a way to emphasize the speaker’s
The last line in the first stanza, “I have outwalked the furthest city light”, allows the reader to envision the speaker being far away from where people live, as physical distance used as a metaphor for the speaker’s loneliness or hopelessness as he walked too far and became too detached from civilization to go back. Even the “far away” cry shows the speaker’s distance and detachement. The imagery used in the second line of the first stanza, “I have walked out in rain-and back in rain”, gives the reader the vision of being out on a rainy night which equals dreariness when most people stay in curl up on the couch with family. This vision sets the stage for depression. The fact there is no other people out walking around aside from the watchman sets the stage for loneliness. Though Frost’s poem is about night, knowing the meaning of night also makes the poem about day; or the nonexistence of it. Light can be seen however, by the moon expressed as, “one luminary clock against the sky”, possibly giving the speaker an ounce of hope that his loneliness and depression will end soon though it is still at a great distance or “unearthly height” while proclaiming “the time is neither wrong nor right”, leaving the speaker without knowledge or idea to the loneliness and depressions …show more content…
Frost uses a rhythme scheme in the five stanza’s that go ABA in the first stanza, BCB in the second, CDC in the third, and the last two lines in DD. This rhythme scheme is an important feature to the poem as it moves forward while envisioning the past. The word “have” being repeated throughout the poem is a great example as the speaker talks in a present tense tone using past tense words. Another important feature of Frost’s poem is the iambic pentameter of ten syllables for each line. Pairing stressed syllables after unstressed syllables for a steady rhythm similar to a heartbeat or footsteps. The form of “Acquainted with the Night” is important as it connects with the words in the poem. The walking forward while remembering where he has walked and the steady rhythm like the footsteps the speaker takes as he walks. Repetition also plays a major role in “Acquainted with the Night”. The repetition in the second line of the first stanza, “I have walked out in rain-and back in rain”, could have been written, I have walked out and back in rain but Frost chose to repeat the word rain to capture the readers understanding of the speaker’s depression. The repetition of “Acquainted with the Night” is used as a way to emphasize the speaker’s