Robert Frost has long been recognised as one of America’s greatest poets. Each poem begins with a straightforward description of a place or situation and then gently moves towards commentary and reflection on human life. There are life lessons to be learned in every poem which appeal to the reader both intellectually and emotionally. Frost deals with various aspects of human life throughout his poetry, such as; childhood, relationships, death, decision making, depression etc. Frost expresses these themes and emotions in a very personal way and yet each can be interpreted on a universal level.
For example ‘The Road Not Taken’ deals with the complexities of decision making.
By using the metaphorical image of ‘two roads diverged’ Frost highlights for us the obstacles, choices and decisions we are faced with every day and how the way in which we handle these choices are life changing, just as his choice ‘made all the difference’. We are given an insight into human nature as most people seem to have chosen the same path except the narrator, who ‘took the one less travelled by’.
‘The Road Not Taken’ is written in the first person and so is very personal. Frost uses very simple, direct, conversational language and an abaab rhyme scheme as well as the beautiful metaphorical image of ‘two roads diverged in a yellow wood’ to add depth to the poem.
Similarly in “Acquainted with the night” we are completely focused on the poet’s actions as this poem is also written in the first person, so again it has a very personal aspect to it.
Frost sees the world as a lonely, bleak, depressing place as he ‘walked out in the rain’ and ‘looked down the saddest city lane’. The last stanza shows that time to those in isolation is irrelevant. ‘The time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night.’
From this poem it is clear that Frost is detailing the dark, feared side of life and the effect it has on people as the speaker is clearly melancholy and sees his life being stuck in continuous awfulness, going nowhere. ‘Out in the rain-and back in the rain’.
‘Acquainted With The Night’ has a very controlled rhyme scheme ( aba, bcb, cdc..) Again this poem is written in very simple, direct language, a feature...
