"Acquanted With the Night" Sorry it's such a sad post!

Acquainted with the Night


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-by;
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.

                                                          -Robert Frost

I have heard that this poem could be about love. That the speaker loved someone who didn't love them back but for some reason I cross this possibility out. The parts about the city lead me off. I also understand that it could be a metaphor for suicide, which is more likely. I also get the sense of a new opportunity.

I understand that his son committed suicide and that Frost himself attempted it. Night is dark, dreary, and unknown. The matter of not knowing what is 10 feet in front of you because of the darkness is frightening. I imagine suicide is too. Day is the opposite of night, light being the opposite of dark. When Frost talks about outwalking the furthest city light he could be referring to leaving the light that once kept the darkness away. He has walked away from that light further into depression.

The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stanza is where it starts becoming more clear. I'm going to work backwards for a second. The fourth stanza I believe is referring to Big Ben as the luminary clock which people have committed suicide by jumping from. In the third stanza the speaker hears a cry and stops to listen, hoping it's calling for him,someone who cares. But the cry is not for him so he continues on his way. In the second stanza he passes a watchmen who he avoids eye contact with. He drops his eyes, unwilling to explain his suicidal thoughts and weaknesses.

The last stanza comes after the "luminary clock," a.k.a Big Ben. Big Ben is telling him that the time is neither wrong nor right. When committing suicide I can see how the time would not matter. Being at the depressed of a state, when your mind is made up, will the timing matter to the person? The speaker has been "acquainted with the night." Not the lack of sun night but the symbol of night; dark, dreary, unknown place.

If you don't look at it with a metaphor for suicide and you take it how it simply it is seen as a passage into something new. The speaker lived in London but the city was treating him right. He didn't want to face the watchmen for leaving the time, ashamed he was running away from it in the middle of the night. He heard the cry, thinking it might be someone wanting him to stay but its not, so he continues. He catches sight of Big Ben deciding that the time does not matter, he is leaving and starting anew. The night would be referring to the dreariness of London at the time (1874-1963).

This poem can be taken many way and relate to many people, just another reason why it is a classic!