PicoBlog

Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) was the preeminent American poet of his generation. His poetry used the imagery of New England to explore the nature of the human soul.

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.

This poem is another masterclass in ambiguity. It offers two very clear questions, and doesn’t make either answer apparent. The first, I suppose, is just what the speaker of the poem is doing out in the night. It is tempting to read it as something nefarious, hidden away from the light of day. However, I am not so sure that there is anything distinctly malicious about his actions. He doesn’t want to avoid the watchmen, he merely doesn’t want to explain his circumstance. He “stood still and stopped” when he heard others. Is that because he didn’t want to be caught, or because he knew that they were not looking for him. In the “one luminary clock” that our speaker sees, Robert Frost gives us an image of a dark night with only a moon, no starts to keep it company. I wonder if “walking in the night” is in some ways a euphemism for walking alone, or for loneliness.

The poem raises its second question with the repeated use of the present perfect verb tense. Saying that you “have walked” or “have been acquainted” says neither that you are still walking or that you are not still walking. This verb tense informs the reader merely that it went on for some duration of time in the past, but does not tell the reader when it ended, if it did at all.

So, the reader must decide. Is the speaker of the poem still walking through the night rain, beyond the city light?

ncG1vNJzZmieoqS6o7HArquyrJ%2Bpv7bAx2eqrpqjqa6kt42cpqZnoGSupL3UmqCnrJWZeri106FkraCVYruqs8et