Essay on Night
In the poems “We grow Accustomed to the Dark” by Emily Dickinson and “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, both poems talk about night time in a way that also contrasts to life and its difficulties, and how people are sometimes ignorant to things when they are in the dark.
In Dickinson's poem, she capitalizes some words, and by this, she is able to emphasize the most important words of the poem: words such as “Dark”, “Evenings”, and “Midnight”, show ignorance that seems awkward in the poem but also in real life. These words contribute to Dickinson's hesitant tone, which is evident as she calls her readers to pursue knowledge. In the first stanza, the poet refers to herself as “we” rather than “I”, showing that the situation being described is applicable universally, not specific to one indivual. In Frost's poem, the “acquainted” used in the title sums up the relationship between the poem's subject and the night. The word shows that the two acknowledge each other, but also implies that there may be an awkward relationship between the two. The night seems to be really attached to the speaker, who cannot seem to get alone time. Frost uses a negative tone, seen in line 3 where the speaker “outwalks the furthest city lamp.” Here, he contrasts the streetlamp with the desolate darkness, enhancing the difference between the two and creating a feeling of hopelessness.
In the third stanza, Dickinson clarifies her defenition of knowledge. The brain is full of “those evenings” but the ignorance is not realized, even as the moon and stars shine. The three dashes of line 12 shows the hopelessness in searching that is often felt because there is no sign disclosed to signify what the speaker is searching for. In Frost's poem, his reluctance to acknowledge the “watchman on his beat” shows that even though the speaker needs interaction, he is unable to reach out for help. Because humans are social animals, this shows that something is wrong with him and, on a broader
In Dickinson's poem, she capitalizes some words, and by this, she is able to emphasize the most important words of the poem: words such as “Dark”, “Evenings”, and “Midnight”, show ignorance that seems awkward in the poem but also in real life. These words contribute to Dickinson's hesitant tone, which is evident as she calls her readers to pursue knowledge. In the first stanza, the poet refers to herself as “we” rather than “I”, showing that the situation being described is applicable universally, not specific to one indivual. In Frost's poem, the “acquainted” used in the title sums up the relationship between the poem's subject and the night. The word shows that the two acknowledge each other, but also implies that there may be an awkward relationship between the two. The night seems to be really attached to the speaker, who cannot seem to get alone time. Frost uses a negative tone, seen in line 3 where the speaker “outwalks the furthest city lamp.” Here, he contrasts the streetlamp with the desolate darkness, enhancing the difference between the two and creating a feeling of hopelessness.
In the third stanza, Dickinson clarifies her defenition of knowledge. The brain is full of “those evenings” but the ignorance is not realized, even as the moon and stars shine. The three dashes of line 12 shows the hopelessness in searching that is often felt because there is no sign disclosed to signify what the speaker is searching for. In Frost's poem, his reluctance to acknowledge the “watchman on his beat” shows that even though the speaker needs interaction, he is unable to reach out for help. Because humans are social animals, this shows that something is wrong with him and, on a broader