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,
 O luminary clock against the sky

 Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
 I have been one acquainted with the night.

When I saw the list of Robert Frost’s poems in Minstrels with yesterday’s poem (Poem #1552 – now more than a day old – ed.) I realised that one of my favourite Frost poems is not on Minstrels. Hence this contribution.

The first thing I liked about this poem when I read it (as is the case with most of Frost’s poems) is its rhythm and sound. There is a very regular ‘beat’ about it. The rhyme scheme is ‘aba bcb cdc dad aa’ (which Google tells me is the terza rima).

Unusually for a Frost poem, this one is set in a city, which probably makes it not very surprising that the theme is loneliness and homelessness. A sense of loneliness permeates the entire poem – especially the second, third and fourth verses. Even time seems indifferent to the speaker – the “luminary clock against the sky [the moon?] / Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right”.

The poem begins and ends with “I have been one acquainted…”. At the first occurrence there is, I think, a feeling of ‘energy’ or ‘endeavour’ - something positive conveyed in the second and third lines. But the end of the poem the overwhelming feeling one gets is that of loneliness and even despondency.

— Srihari

Ps. I hope the above makes sense; I haven’t written some thing like this in over 10 years.