The Interpretation Of Acquainted With The Night By Robert Frost

Register to read the introduction… “I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet” (“Acquainted”) proves that he is by himself during his walk. The narrator is saying that when he stops moving, he cannot hear anyone else because he is alone. This is another thing that shows us his seclusion. “While others stay home, snug in their beds, the speaker walks out beyond the streetlights into the darkness. He is engulfed by it. The suggestion is that in this time and place he confronts the unanswered questions, his own littleness, and his detachment from others” (Monahan). When he says he has stopped the sound of feet, he is trying to have us envision the man and how alone he actually is. “I have been one acquainted with the night” (“Acquainted”) is an important line in this poem. “The word, “acquainted” describes the speaker’s connection to “night”. In the setting of this poem, night is the time during which the speaker heads out of town alone. For the speaker, night is a period of feeling total isolation and detachment of social groups” (Monahan). This line is important because it has the title of the poem in it and gives the readers’ assurance to what the poem is actually about. “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost expresses depression, loneliness, as well as …show more content…
“I have out walked the furthest city light. I have looked the furthest city light” (“Acquainted”). The narrator is by himself walking for what seems to be a very long time. “Although this line may suggest a lack of progress since line one, we know that the process in between was anything but eventful. He has acquainted himself with his condition as a thinking feeling, and dynamic being whose condition is intriguing” (Murray). The narrator goes out at the time he does just to avoid everyone else but in a line he says “I have passed by the watchman on his beat. And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain” (“Acquainted”). Therefore, the narrator is embarrassed when he sees the watchman because he didn’t know anyone else would be awake like he was and he was obviously trying to hide something. That is why he avoided the man when he made slight contact with him during a time that is supposed to be alone and nothing but the sound of his own feet strolling in the city. “This watchman is the only other human character in the poem, but the speaker avoids human contact” (Amano). It’s interesting that the only interaction the narrator has, he doesn’t initiate conversation. It shows that he is everything but happy and all because of a reason that we will never