“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost is a poem about a life full of loneliness and isolation. The poem follows the narrator as he goes through life feeling companionless and sees the world as a pessimistic place. Frost uses many different devices to show the meaning of this poem, such as tone, form, and cycling. Through these devices, he shows the constant depression and sorrow that the narrator feels.
Frost uses tone throughout the poem to explain the way the narrator feels. He first uses tone with the title. The literal meaning of the title, “Acquainted with the Night” shows the way the narrator feels as if he is walking through darkness. Frost uses the night to show a world without light and happiness. Often in poetry, night refers to a hopeless world without God. The narrator feels entirely alone, as if nobody s with him in the world, even God. As well as being a world without God, the night often symbolizes suffering. Even without knowing the backstory of the narrator, the reader can tell that he has experienced loss and suffering. The setting of walking through the night symbolizes the dark life the narrator is walking through. Frost uses many adjectives throughout the poem to help show the feeling of darkness and despair. As the narrator walks through life, he feels as if everything around is also feeling his sadness, “I have looked down the saddest city lane”. The use of …show more content…
With the use of terza rima, the poem seems to have a never ending cycle. Terza rima is three lined stanzas with interlocking rhyme scheme. The interlocking rhyme scheme used in this poem continues on in the last paragraph, matching up with the first paragraph. This creates the illusion of a never ending cycle. This never ending cycle of rhyme scheme represents the never ending feeling of hopelessness that the narrator feels. Having a sense of a never ending cycle of despair adds to the theme of the
Frost uses tone throughout the poem to explain the way the narrator feels. He first uses tone with the title. The literal meaning of the title, “Acquainted with the Night” shows the way the narrator feels as if he is walking through darkness. Frost uses the night to show a world without light and happiness. Often in poetry, night refers to a hopeless world without God. The narrator feels entirely alone, as if nobody s with him in the world, even God. As well as being a world without God, the night often symbolizes suffering. Even without knowing the backstory of the narrator, the reader can tell that he has experienced loss and suffering. The setting of walking through the night symbolizes the dark life the narrator is walking through. Frost uses many adjectives throughout the poem to help show the feeling of darkness and despair. As the narrator walks through life, he feels as if everything around is also feeling his sadness, “I have looked down the saddest city lane”. The use of …show more content…
With the use of terza rima, the poem seems to have a never ending cycle. Terza rima is three lined stanzas with interlocking rhyme scheme. The interlocking rhyme scheme used in this poem continues on in the last paragraph, matching up with the first paragraph. This creates the illusion of a never ending cycle. This never ending cycle of rhyme scheme represents the never ending feeling of hopelessness that the narrator feels. Having a sense of a never ending cycle of despair adds to the theme of the