Poem

Acquainted with the Night:

List the many images Frost uses in this poem - what are they symbolic of?
What is the overall tone of the poem, and how do the images support this feeling?
What is the effect of the repetition?
This poem rhymes - how does this affect your enjoyment of the poem?
What is the function of the clock?
What is the figurative "night" in the poem?

Acquainted with the Night

Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain-and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right
I have been one acquainted with the night.