An Old Man's Winter Night Figurative Language

In Emily Dickenson’s “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night” distinct views of hesitation in life are explained, and are manifested with each authors different point of views, structure, sound, imagery, and metaphors.

The theme of isolation is apparent in all three poems. While detailing his morning in Those Winter Sundays, Robert Hayden writes that he walked by his father, “…speaking indifferently to him (Hayden 11)”. This disconnect form his father created isolation for not just one of them, but for both of them. This isolation led to loneliness. Hayden later writes, “What did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices (Lee 49)”. In Eating Alone, the speaker loses his father. He isolates himself to cope with the grief, and remains bitter and lonely. This is shown in line 22, “And my own loneliness (Lee 49)”. In My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke writes of a child being abused by his father. The speaker says, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked by dirt, then waltzed me off to bed, still clinging to your shirt (Roethke 109)”. The child may be with his father, but he is still isolated from him. This isolation causes loneliness.

This essay implies to the reader that loneliness isn’t always a vile thing. The author compares somebody who has absolutely nothing in life but enjoys the solitude, to people who roam through life alone, seeking for company—but never find it. The author compares the chosen lifestyle of the box man, to the undesired for loneliness of the victims. The author explains that although one may be poor and alone, it does not mean that one is unhappy. For example, in paragraph 12 it is explained that the mayor has offered him help, but the box man pushes it away. In paragraph 18 it is described how the box man enjoys his dark life. It is portrayed that life is a solo journey and that one may be much more miserable by going through

The two poems “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Acquainted with the Night” written by Robert Frost are very similar to each other because of the simplistic form of language used and the uses of metaphors. When we first read the poem, it looks like an ordinary poem but once we go in depth and understand the meaning, it becomes so much more. Both of the poem has a very dark, gloomy and lonely setting with a really mysterious tone. There are different metaphors used in each poem to symbolize death; “Sleep” in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Night” in “Acquainted with the Night.” The characters in the two poem are both in a journey and has come

The dramatic realization of the absence of objects during the brief moments of sunset on a snowy evening comes fast under

Robert Frost's deeply-rooted beliefs in nature influence him to view death positively. Through enticing images of solitude

is saying, and Frosts personal pain that he is suffering from that he ingrains into this poem. The

Robert Frost takes our imagination to a journey through wintertime with 
his two poems "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". These two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in the snow covered woods and awakens us to new feelings. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a person depending on 
their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple stanzas and diction but they are not straightforward poems.

An old mans winter night is a poem about an old man that lives on his

“Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost dramatizes the conflict that the speaker experiences with the outside world, which has rejected him, or perhaps which he has rejected. The poem is composed of fourteen lines and seven sentences, all of which begin with “I have.” Frost’s first and last line, “I have been one acquainted with the night,” emphasizes what it means for the speaker to be “acquainted with the night” (line 1; 14). The speaker describes his walk in the night as journey, in which he has “walked out of rain—and back in rain” and “outwalked the furthest city light” (line 2-3). Through the depiction of the changing weather conditions, Frost signifies the passage of time, perhaps indicating that the narrator has been on his journey for a lengthy period of time and has traveled through many cities. Furthermore, the imagery of the rain at night creates a forlorn atmosphere in the poem.

Robert Frost's "The Mending Wall" is a comment on the nature of our society. In this poem, Frost examines the way in which we interact with one another and how we function as a whole. For Frost, the world is often one of isolation. Man has difficulty communicating and relating to one another. As a result, we have a tendency to shut ourselves off from others. In the absence of effective communication, we play the foolish game of avoiding any meaningful contact with others in order to gain privacy.

The word choice used in this poem helps to portray a mood of isolation. “And all I loved, I loved alone” (8). What the speaker is saying with this quote is that everything they found interest in, nobody else did, and therefore he had nobody to share their life experiences with. Even from a young age, the speaker felt as if he were an outcast. “Then- in my childhood, in the dawn/ Of a most stormy life- was drawn/ From every depth of good and ill/ The mystery which binds me still” (9-12). The speaker felt that they had no control over their fate. No matter what happened, whether it be good or bad, the speaker felt abandoned

Robert Frost is an English poet who wrote several poems during the 1900’s. His poems include “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is literally about a person who stops in the woods on the night of December 21st or the winter solstice. The owner of the woods lives in the village so he will not see the speaker. When the speaker stops and looks into the woods, his horse shakes his bells. However, the speaker wants to stay in the woods, but he has miles to ride before he can go to sleep. Through his use of imagery, figure of speech, and sound effects, Frost illustrates the influences of life and death in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”.

Robert Frost one of the greatest American poets, was a bridge between man and reality, whether it be cruel or pleasant, always connecting the two in some essence through his poetry, utilizing a conversation style, reinforcing his admiration of conversation presenting his portrayed beliefs more conflicted than one shall expect. He depicts a common theme and style within his poems, specifically the "The Mountain" which is a contrast between young and old, when a young visitor comes to a village and is astonished at an old man 's lack of curiosity about the mountain that stands at its edge, and “An Old Man’s Winter Night” a poem about an old man’s loss of memory, having no recollection of his purpose or identity. Not only is the old man isolated in body, he is isolated in mind where the memories of past happiness cannot comfort him.

In his poem “Acquainted with the Night,” Robert Frost describes a character who spends his nights wandering the city streets. The reader can infer from both Frost’s tone, and the time of day in which the speaker chooses to walk, that the character is in a world of isolation. This is especially evident in the lines, “When far away an interrupted cry/ Came over houses from another street,/ But not to call me back or say good-by” (Frost 898). From this line, the reader understands that the poem’s speaker feels as if he is completely isolated in the world. In a similar way, E. E. Cummings poem “anyone lived in a pretty how town” expresses the loneliness felt by people of this era. Cummings creative use of pronouns gives the poem a double entendre. The characters, anyone and noone, can represent their literal meanings, or a single man and woman. Therefore, when Cummings writes that “noone loves him more by more,” he could mean that anyone is being loved greatly, or not at all. This loneliness is expressed yet again when Cummings informs the reader, “Women and men (both little and small)/ cared for anyone not at all” (Cummings 922). The works of both Frost and Cummings both portray the hardship that accompanied the feeling of loneliness during the modern