Comparing Acquainted With The Night And We Grow Accustomed To The Dark
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Poets Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost both share their experiences with the dark. Emily Dickinson’s poem “We grow accustomed to the Dark” follows the symbolism of darkness, while Robert Frost’s poem “Acquainted with the Night” uses the night to serve as the main symbol. Both have contrasting points of view which adds to each of their works’ symbols. In all, both pieces have contrasting significance of the night/darkness.
Emily Dickinson’s poem “We grow accustomed to the Dark” describes hardships that people face in their lives. Within the first two stanzas, Dickinson is describing the initial confrontation with a hardship (represented by the darkness) she or others face. It is left open, however, to let the reader reflect on their own situations. In the second stanza, Dickinson introduces a road. This could symbolize the future after the hardship, and acts as a transition to the “light” aspect of the future. In stanza four, Dickinson describes the mistakes people have to take in order to overcome their darkness “And sometimes hit a Tree/ Directly in the…show more content… However, Frost’s poem is similar in the fact that it too is describing a period of hardship. Throughout the whole poem, the speaker reveals more about his isolation from others and how no one really cares or acknowledges him on the streets. This point is evident in the second stanza when he walks by the watchman, “ I have looked down the saddest city lane./ I have passed by the watchman on his beat/ And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain (lines 4-6).” This stanza proves the factor of isolation because the watchman doesn’t give any sign of recognition toward the speaker. The ending of the third stanza and beginning lines of the fourth stanza truly describes the speaker’s isolation, “When far away an interrupted cry/ Came over houses from another street,/ But not to call me back or say good-by (lines