Frost Poems Comparison
Robert Frost’s poems "Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening" and
"Acquainted with the Night" seem to be ordinary poems
at first glance, but
after an in depth look at these works and how they
relate, they become much
more. Frost seemed to keep a tone of mystery
throughout each of these poems,
never actually telling the reader exactly
what was going on. By the same token,
the poems gave off sense of darkness
and gloom just adding to the mystery of
what lies ahead. Neither of the
characters in these poems seem to be very happy
which also augments the
gloomy mood of these poems. The characters in these
poems also appear to be
on some kind of journey, but are reluctant to go ahead
and find out what fate
has planned for them. A sense of obligation is also
present in these poems,
an obligation which must be fulfilled, whether the
character likes it or not.
More easily seen is the mystery in each of these
poems. Frost keeps the
reader in suspense by never telling the reader what
exactly is going on, but
just touches on what might be going on. And to make
things even more
mysterious, he gives you hints, and leaves the reader with a
lot to think
about in these poems. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening," Frost
exhibits this fairly clearly when his character mentions in
the first line of
the poem "Whose woods these are I think I know/His house is
in the village,
though;/He will not see me stopping here." These first three
lines set a mood
of dishonesty, as if the character is not supposed to be there,
but it’s all
right for now because the owner doesn’t know he’s there. This
little hint
pops a question in your mind, "What exactly is this guy doing?,"
hence the
mystery. Frost once again sets the mood for mystery in "Acquainted
with the
Night," by making known the presence of authority when his character
states,
"I have passed by the watchman on his beat/And dropped my eyes
unwilling to
explain." The character seems to be feeling guilty, or afraid of
the
authority figure and drops his eyes to the watchman because of this. But
why
would he feel guilty or afraid? Again, a mysterious hint. Also projected
by
these poems is a sense of darkness, which goes hand in hand with the
mystery in
these poems. The titles of these poems alone suggest darkness. Let
me ask you
one question; what time of day is the most mysterious? Of course
the
"Evening" or "Night" is the most mysterious time of day. But Frost
does
not stop here in emphasizing darkness in these poems. "The darkest
evening of
the year." This selection from "Stopping by Woods in a Snowy
Evening,"
amplifies even more the sense of darkness in these poems. Why is
this evening"the darkest of the year?" Night is night no doubt. But what makes
this
evening so dark? Is it so dark because the cloud cover from the snowfall
is
blocking out the moon and stars, desecrating the available light? If this
is
true, then how could there be enough light to "watch his woods fill up
with
snow," to see that there is "[no] farmhouse near," or that "the
woods
are lovely, dark and deep?" Maybe it is not that the evening is dark in
the
sense of night versus day, but maybe it is a personification of how
the
character feels. Perhaps the character has hit a low point in their life
and
this is why the character describes the night as "The darkest," i.e.
the
lowest or saddest, "evening of the year." From "Acquainted with
the
Night," Frost’s character mentions, "I have outwalked the furthest
city
light." When the character states that he have "outwalked the furthest
city
light" it projects a very strong and large sense of darkness. During
the
night, the brightest light may be from a city, and to "outwalk" this
strong
light, the character must walk very far, hence, "furthest."
Immediately
after this line, the character says "I have looked down the
saddest city
lane." This line seems to be a metaphor of the fact that the
character knows
how it feels after he has gone away from this strong light.
It is like the
saying "I’ve been down that road before." The character is
left with the
feeling of sadness and nothingness, because of the darkness. In
both of these
poems the darkness adds to the mystery, but it also parallels
how the
characters’ feel. Exactly, why do the characters feel so dark and
sad? What is
so glum? In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the
character states
that "The woods are lovely, dark and deep/But I have
promises to keep." This
shows that the character would love to stay, but he
must go. It seems that this
character is reluctant to leave the peaceful and
beautiful woods to fulfill some
dispiriting obligation. In "Acquainted with
the Night," the character
describes how he feels about what he is doing his
task, "I have walked out in
rain—and back in rain." The saying, "rain on my
parade," helps to
describe how the character feels. Rain is the feeling of
pessimism and despair.
This character feels despondent from the minute he
departs to do what he has to
do, "out in rain," and feels no better, if not
worse when returns "back in
rain." Frost emphasizes the gloom felt by the
character very well with the,
"—and back in rain," part of the line. It
seems he is trying to say, it is
bad enough to have to walk there in rain,
but even worse to have to walk back in
the rain also. Another excerpt from
this poem shows that the character is
reluctant to go and do what he has to
do... "When far away an interrupted
cry/Came over houses from another street,
/But not to call me back or say
good-bye." It seems like the character is
looking for something to give him an
excuse to turn back, and the "cry" might
have been just what he had been
looking for, but it did not affect his
journey in any way, "...not to call me
back or say good-bye." Another factor
present in each of these poems is that
time will bring a change for the good.
In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening," the character states that "The
woods are lovely, dark and deep/But
I have promises to keep." This
statement shows that the character would like
to stay, but it is time
continue with his journey and do what he has to do. The
last two lines of
this poem are repeated. They are as follows: "And miles to
go before I
sleep/And miles to go before I sleep." The first time this line is
stated it
can be taken almost literally. It means that his journey is far from
over,
but eventually he will be able to rest. When the line is repeated, its
hidden
meaning is easier to uncover. It means that for now, he must keep on
doing
what he is doing, but eventually, all this will end and he will find
his
peace. It’s like the saying, "Hard work pays off." In "Acquainted
with
the Night," the lines, "And further still at an unearthly height,
/One
luminary clock against the sky/Proclaimed the time was neither wrong
nor
right," use the moon in a very interesting way. The moon is light, but it
is
also a clock. Light is the opposite of dark, i.e. good is the opposite of
bad.
This symbolizes that the good is on its way but its just a matter of
time, but
for now, the character must continue with his task. In both poems
Frost projects
an image of dark sadness, apparently about what each of the
characters must do
in order to fulfill his obligations. The characters do not
want to do these
things, but he has no choice. Then, the symbolism in the
poems show the happy
ending.