"Acquainted with the Night" (1928)

The narrator describes his loneliness as he walks the isolated city streets at night. He has walked
beyond the city limits and along every city lane, but has never found anything to comfort him in
his depression. Even when he makes contact with another person (such as the watchman), the
narrator is unwilling to express his feelings because he knows that no one will understand him. At
one point he hears a cry from a nearby street, but realizes that it is not meant for him; no one is
waiting for him. He looks up at the moon in the sky and acknowledges that time has no meaning
for him because his isolation is unending.
Analysis
This poem is written in strict iambic pentameter, with the fourteen lines of a traditional sonnet. In
terms of rhyme scheme, Frost uses the terza rima ("third rhyme") pattern of ABA CDC DAD
AA, which is exceptionally difficult to write in English.
This poem is commonly understood to be a description of the narrators experiences with
depression. The most crucial element of his depression is his complete isolation. Frost
emphasizes this by using the first-person term I at the beginning of seven of the lines. Even
though the watchman has a physical presence in the poem, he does not play a mental or
emotional role: the narrator, the sole I, remains solitary. Similarly, when the narrator hears the
interrupted cry from another street, he clarifies that the cry is not meant for him, because there
is no one waiting for him at home.
The narrators inability to make eye contact with the people that he meets suggests that his
depression has made him incapable of interacting in normal society. While normal people are
associated with the day (happiness, sunlight, optimism), the narrator is solely acquainted with the
night, and thus can find nothing in common with those around him. The narrator is even unable to
use the same sense of time as the other people in the city: instead of using a clock that provides a
definitive time for every moment, the narrator relies solely on one luminary clock in the sky.
Ironically, since night is the only time that he emerges from his solitude, the narrator has even
less opportunity to meet someone who can pull him from his depression. His acquaintance with
the night constructs a cycle of depression that he cannot escape.
Frost adds to the uncertainty inherent in the poem by incorporating the present perfect tense,
which is used to describe something from the recent past, as well as something from the past that
is still ongoing in the present. It seems as if the narrators depression could be from the recent
past because of the phrase: I have been However, the verb tense also suggests that his
depression could still be a constant, if unseen, force. With that in mind, it is unclear whether the
narrator will truly be able to come back to society or if his depression will resurface and force
him to be, once again, acquainted with the night.
Poetry explication: Into My Own, by Robert Frost

Robert Frost's "Into My Own" is the poignant expression of a boy's desire to leave home and
develop his own identity. Note that the title isn't "On My Own," which would suggest a need for
independence, but "Into My Own," suggesting a transformation from child into mature
individual. Many of Frost's poems express a need for not only identity but also space, a place
apart from others where one can be oneself. This is particularly true of his works such as
"Acquainted With the of my wishes is that those dark trees, Night" and "Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening."
"Into My Own" - the text
One of my wishes is that those dark trees,
So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,
Were not, as 'twere, the merest mask of gloom,
But stretched away unto the edge of doom.
I should not be withheld but that some day
into their vastness I should steal away,
Fearless of ever finding open land,
or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.
I do not see why I should e'er turn back,
Or those should not set forth upon my track
To overtake me, who should miss me here
And long to know if still I held them dear.
They would not find me changed from him they knewOnly more sure of all I thought was true.
Structure
This is one of the many sonnets that Frost has penned. The rhyme scheme is
AABBCCDDEEFFGG. The first quatrain expresses the speaker's feelings about a line of "dark
trees" that he has seen - his desire that those trees would extend all the way "unto the edge of
doom," rather than stopping. The second quatrain tells the reader that he would "steal away" and
that he revels in the notion of never again finding "open land or highway where the slow wheel
pours the sand." The third quatrain is interesting, because one would expect that an adolescent

looking to find independence would want his parents to stay home. Here, though, the speaker
says that he doesn't see why "those should not set forth upon [his] track to overtake [him], who
should miss [him] here, and long to know if [he] still held them dear." This suggests that the
speaker is younger, or at least more connected to his family. In the closing couplet, the speaker
asserts that he wouldn't be changed if he left home - he would only find his ideas about life and
the world to have been confirmed.
Themes and Literary Devices
The dark trees are, for the speaker, a metaphor for the promise of the unknown. This is why he
doesn't like the fact that they end within sight, and are just "the merest mask of gloom." If you've
seen M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village," the power that the surrounding forest has
to keep the villagers inside is immense. This power is based on fear - but the
unknown draws the speaker, to the point that he wishes for an unending dark wood.

The speaker takes joy in the fact that his journey would happen without him ever coming to the
drudgery of open spaces or highway. The seen, and the routine - here, represented by the
metaphorical "slow wheel" - bore the speaker. Coming "into [his] own" will require new
knowledge, and will require surprises, and it's impossible to be surprised what you can see across
an open field, or by driving down a highway that's been well-traveled.
Irony appears in the third quatrain - the boy wants to get away, but he wants his loved ones to
pursue him and find out if he misses them. This is the irony of the adolescent transition - the
desire to get as far away as possible from what has already happened in life is combined with the
desire for one's family to still love, to still cherish, to still care for one, while giving independence
at the same time. This is why so many teenagers hate to answer their parents' questions each
night, even about the simplest matters, but would be devastated if those parents stopped asking.
And this irony is the central success of "Into My Own" - because it expresses, so succinctly, the
contradiction of the adolescent mind, and the war of inclinations that must be fought for every
child to escape to adulthood

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1923)

On a dark winter evening, the narrator stops his sleigh to watch the snow falling in the woods. At
first he worries that the owner of the property will be upset by his presence, but then he
remembers that the owner lives in town, and he is free to enjoy the beauty of the falling snow.
The sleigh horse is confused by his masters behavior stopping far away from any farmhouse
and shakes his harness bells in impatience. After a few more moments, the narrator reluctantly
continues on his way.
Analysis
In terms of text, this poem is remarkably simple: in sixteen lines, there is not a single threesyllable word and only sixteen two-syllable words. In terms of rhythmic scheme and form,
however, the poem is surprisingly complex. The poem is made up of four stanzas, each with four
stressed syllables in iambic meter. Within an individual stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines
rhyme (for example, know, though, and snow of the first stanza), while the third line
rhymes with the first, second, and fourth lines of the following stanza (for example, here of the
first stanza rhymes with queer, near, and year of the second stanza).
One of Frosts most famous works, this poem is often touted as an example of his life work. As
such, the poem is often analyzed to the minutest detail, far beyond what Frost himself intended
for the short and simple piece. In reference to analyses of the work, Frost once said that he was
annoyed by those pressing it for more than it should be pressed for. It means enough without its
being pressedI dont say that somebody shouldnt press it, but I dont want to be there.
The poem was inspired by a particularly difficult winter in New Hampshire when Frost was
returning home after an unsuccessful trip at the market. Realizing that he did not have enough to
buy Christmas presents for his children, Frost was overwhelmed with depression and stopped his
horse at a bend in the road in order to cry. After a few minutes, the horse shook the bells on its
harness, and Frost was cheered enough to continue home.
The narrator in the poem does not seem to suffer from the same financial and emotional burdens
as Frost did, but there is still an overwhelming sense of the narrators unavoidable
responsibilities. He would prefer to watch the snow falling in the woods, even with his horses
impatience, but he has promises to keep, obligations that he cannot ignore even if he wants to.
It is unclear what these specific obligations are, but Frost does suggest that the narrator is
particularly attracted to the woods because there is not a farmhouse near. He is able to enjoy
complete isolation.
Frosts decision to repeat the final line could be read in several ways. On one hand, it reiterates
the idea that the narrator has responsibilities that he is reluctant to fulfill. The repetition serves as
a reminder, even a mantra, to the narrator, as if he would ultimately decide to stay in the woods
unless he forces himself to remember his responsibilities. On the other hand, the repeated line
could be a signal that the narrator is slowly falling asleep. Within this interpretation, the poem
could end with the narrators death, perhaps as a result of hypothermia from staying in the frozen
woods for too long.

The narrators promises to keep can also be seen as a reference to traditional American duties
for a farmer in New England. In a time and a place where hard work is valued above all things,
the act of watching snow fall in the woods may be viewed as a particularly trivial indulgence.
Even the narrator is aware that his behavior is not appropriate: he projects his insecurities onto
his horse by admitting that even a work animal would think it queer.